State Elections - Selling the Talk about Talk Show
By: Amit Bhushan Date: 14th Oct. 2014
This elections in a large as well as a small state in India, has been lackluster rather than the promise for revival or comeback for parties other than the one ruling at the center. Although some of the mass media players tried to focus on the ‘changes’ that have been actually delivered by leaders in power as well as the ‘misses’. Some of the players did attempt to focus on regional aspirations however with the advent of a supposedly ‘bulky leader’, the media attention was shifted to selling Talk about the Talk shows. That the leader was rescued from other urgent matters in order to sell the talk about his own ‘paid talk shows’ was probably a first in our elections, but was ignored by media. A senior functionary without any answers but just questions on other ‘junior functionaries’ is a point to ponder upon; regarding efficacy of ‘communications’ irrespective of the time spent in the position. Steadily & with media over exposure, the ‘time’ advantage wanes, though some of the rivals blanked out of media may be forgotten to the advantage of the ‘leader’, but newer rivals may be just around corner.
The political parties still do not have much respect for the countries highest courts was also on display, since there were little noises about court’s order or reprimands on the government of the day, which has be dithering to take actions or devise plans for actions as per orders in timely manner. This happens because there are skeletons on all sides and political leaders are still not comfortable with the idea of rule based governance, primarily because they are not sure when the ball will tilt against them. Also their confidence about & experiences with the ‘dirty tricks’ department in government as well as in rival parties helps them with maintain such bias. That states lack a professional, independent & credible investigations agency of their own as well as prolonged court trials have not helped the matter (& these remain at all level of judiciary). ‘The one year trial completion rule’ for elected representatives promised by the current regime is still awaited to be moved from slogan stage to implementation.
The governance presently seems to be largely about file clearance of private business projects in hope that this will lift masses out of poverty, though we did see some inkling about policy/structural change in form announcement of remodeling of the Planning Commission and some initiative about improving connectivity with neighboring countries. The quantum of progress in say telecom sector, river & near shore logistic sector, hydro & clean energy as well as energy conservation sector or progress monitoring of large projects especially those in Public or in PPP domain, which need to be reported on probably monthly basis to people and not just to the PM, seems to be lacking. Similarly the slogan of center state relations seems to have taken a back seat, though some action was witnessed on disaster management/control front. There seems to be a lack of focus on ‘industrial reservation list for SSI’ as well as their technology upgradation. With advent of e-commerce, getting such SMEs on e-commerce platforms may also be treated as technology upgradation with some subsidized ‘one time small ticket loan’ (say up to 5 lacs for duration up to 3 years and proprietors be allowed to select from a host of methods and platform providers) be made available to SMEs for the same under somewhat relaxed criteria. This may benefit the SMEs as well as consumer since it may become easier for them to connect and help in penetration level of technology to the lowest levels and improve education & skills. A host of tech companies can come up to support branding of products alongside quality control, their business organization registration and process definition, logistic & payment support as well as sourcing etc. which otherwise is not available to SMEs. A host of service providers may also find mechanism to uplift chaiwallahs (who have lately been forgotten by political leaders) by supporting them come up to deliver a more complete outing experience to their clients. This will also help in proliferation and demand for a large number of web-based services in multiple languages and help in improvement of innovation environment in the country, setting a foundation for future growth.
By: Amit Bhushan Date: 14th Oct. 2014
This elections in a large as well as a small state in India, has been lackluster rather than the promise for revival or comeback for parties other than the one ruling at the center. Although some of the mass media players tried to focus on the ‘changes’ that have been actually delivered by leaders in power as well as the ‘misses’. Some of the players did attempt to focus on regional aspirations however with the advent of a supposedly ‘bulky leader’, the media attention was shifted to selling Talk about the Talk shows. That the leader was rescued from other urgent matters in order to sell the talk about his own ‘paid talk shows’ was probably a first in our elections, but was ignored by media. A senior functionary without any answers but just questions on other ‘junior functionaries’ is a point to ponder upon; regarding efficacy of ‘communications’ irrespective of the time spent in the position. Steadily & with media over exposure, the ‘time’ advantage wanes, though some of the rivals blanked out of media may be forgotten to the advantage of the ‘leader’, but newer rivals may be just around corner.
The political parties still do not have much respect for the countries highest courts was also on display, since there were little noises about court’s order or reprimands on the government of the day, which has be dithering to take actions or devise plans for actions as per orders in timely manner. This happens because there are skeletons on all sides and political leaders are still not comfortable with the idea of rule based governance, primarily because they are not sure when the ball will tilt against them. Also their confidence about & experiences with the ‘dirty tricks’ department in government as well as in rival parties helps them with maintain such bias. That states lack a professional, independent & credible investigations agency of their own as well as prolonged court trials have not helped the matter (& these remain at all level of judiciary). ‘The one year trial completion rule’ for elected representatives promised by the current regime is still awaited to be moved from slogan stage to implementation.
The governance presently seems to be largely about file clearance of private business projects in hope that this will lift masses out of poverty, though we did see some inkling about policy/structural change in form announcement of remodeling of the Planning Commission and some initiative about improving connectivity with neighboring countries. The quantum of progress in say telecom sector, river & near shore logistic sector, hydro & clean energy as well as energy conservation sector or progress monitoring of large projects especially those in Public or in PPP domain, which need to be reported on probably monthly basis to people and not just to the PM, seems to be lacking. Similarly the slogan of center state relations seems to have taken a back seat, though some action was witnessed on disaster management/control front. There seems to be a lack of focus on ‘industrial reservation list for SSI’ as well as their technology upgradation. With advent of e-commerce, getting such SMEs on e-commerce platforms may also be treated as technology upgradation with some subsidized ‘one time small ticket loan’ (say up to 5 lacs for duration up to 3 years and proprietors be allowed to select from a host of methods and platform providers) be made available to SMEs for the same under somewhat relaxed criteria. This may benefit the SMEs as well as consumer since it may become easier for them to connect and help in penetration level of technology to the lowest levels and improve education & skills. A host of tech companies can come up to support branding of products alongside quality control, their business organization registration and process definition, logistic & payment support as well as sourcing etc. which otherwise is not available to SMEs. A host of service providers may also find mechanism to uplift chaiwallahs (who have lately been forgotten by political leaders) by supporting them come up to deliver a more complete outing experience to their clients. This will also help in proliferation and demand for a large number of web-based services in multiple languages and help in improvement of innovation environment in the country, setting a foundation for future growth.