At 4:26 PM +0000 11/20/07, Malabika Brahma wrote:
I agree with the above statement about REAL and FREE.
Although there has been move about "Free" markets in India, the
bureaucracy is still too stifling and still promotes/encourages
underhand dealings. Until India remedies the centrally controlled
dysfunctional bureaucratic set up, it will take decades for the
people reap benefits free market economy or to get any social
justice.
*** The 'bureaucracy' is only the tip of the iceberg.
Yes, the ENRON saga did happen in a free market economy. But "SOVIET
and EAST BLOCK saga" or "NO REGULAR ELECTRICITY SAGA in the
backwaters of Dhubri district and Namti" also happened in controlled
economy with ever meddling dysfunctional bureaucratic set up.
*** To point to totalitarianism or a controlled economy as the only
alternative to what gave rise to Enron or Enron like results is a
false argument.
The following is a good illustration of that.
ENRON saga in the US led to increased pressure from the Feds for
corporate transparency and accountability, as it should in a country
with Free Market where the role of the government is primarily to
enforce the rule of law.
The key phrase here is "as it should". And if we look at the Indian
condition, will there be a dearth of what SHOULD have been? Question
is WHY do they NOT happen? History keeps repeating itself as if it is
the ONLY way.
There has to be a reason. What is it/are they? How will they change?
WHO will change them? WHEN?
Those are the questions that affect Assam, as it does India and all
it controls.
>But as market economy grows and if the grip of stifling
bureaucracy is reduced and REAL FREE ECONOMY takes shape, things are
bound to change.
*** So the hope is that a REAL and FREE ECONOMY is all that is needed
to deliver India to the promised land and thast it will in due course.
I hope it was merely a slip of the keyboard , and not a well
considered conclusion to bank on:-).
Besides signs of stifling bureaucracy and "deeply faulty systemic
and institutional structures " (to quota c-da) we encounter another
symptom with Indian ethos. On our last visit to India, I had bought
hot coffee from Kolkata airport. The hot coffee was served in ultra
thin plastic cups, which proved to be extremely hot to hold. When I
protested and asked for an extra cup to lessen the impact of burning
heat on my poor hands, the sales person displayed the least concern.
The emphasis of Indian business is still short-term profit with
little respect for customer care. I suspect the same applied to the
current cell phone market in India.
But as market economy grows and if the grip of stifling bureaucracy
is reduced and REAL FREE ECONOMY takes shape, things are bound to
change.
At least that's what we have seen in the rest of the FREE world.
Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I do not take issue with the proven efficacy of REAL competition
and FREE market forces. But the keywords are REAL and FREE. In a
land where the make-believe is readily accepted in lieu of the real
thing by its intelligentsia EVEN when the truths are open for all to
see and that need to tell the world they are no push-overs as far as
modernity is involved, the nuances of the REAL and the FREE takes on
huge importance. One only needs to look at the ENRON saga. Are there
Enron like goings on in the cellphone industry in Assam? I don't
know. But from the comments I heard from users from Guahati to
Dibrugarh to Namti to Tawang--I have to suspect there is.
The fact of Dhubri's or Guahati's or Namti's lack of paved roads,
reliable electricity or potable water or sanitation systems and the
governments' failure that it points to ought not to be issues to be
forgotten or
explained away as mere ideology rooted failure of governance and
thus implied that it could be all remedied by the 'free market gods'
is where the fallacy is.
That Indian governance is dysfunctional has little to do with
ideological hang-ups but everything to do with deeply faulty
systemic and institutional structures that Indian intelligentsia has
neither been aware of nor have been willing to tackle.
At 9:07 PM +0000 11/19/07, Malabika Brahma wrote:
Soon Reliance and others will be forced to improve their service if
they want to survive and prosper.
But they have achieved to provide at least rudimentary service in
5/6 years of operation (in cell phones) which government failed to
provide for (take electricity) in last 60 years.
My village in Dhubri district does not yet have regular electricity,
paved roads and clean water supply (we rely on wells) after 60 years
but does receive NextTel cell phone signals.
People who never had land phone lines had cell phones as the first phone.
mc mahant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE:
10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma } Cellphone Cos are like "Indian IT
Miracles".
Each one is a Benami shadow of likes of
Eriksson/Siemens/Nokia/Motorola.Even screws are imported.- mostly
from China. Customs do not hold them for Minutes. And they were/are
being milked for Upfront+Below the Table n000Crores@ time for
licensing CeNtrallyat Delhi
Remember Pramod Mahajan's Brother fuming and shooting him dead
-----"You took 5000 crores and did nothing to US?"
Currently there is something bigger happening-all Hush Hush:
Reliance trying to corner huge Spectrum(allowed to be a cOuntry's
right by ITU rules)and all the other players crying out loud"You
cannot do that".
So they can Cheat the Economy as they like--Licensed to Kill.
{Compare mine --a few Welding/Sawing machines not released by
Kolkata Customs"Where is it written--the address of the Party to be
Notified?"And of course I have to be penalized for Demurrage that
longer.As per Rules. Nedfi--Oh they are Busy Developing Look
East!!! }
mm
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:50:08 -0600
To: [email protected]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Assam] Indian Cell Phone Myths
.ExternalClass blockquote, .ExternalClass dl, .ExternalClass ul,
.ExternalClass ol, .ExternalClass li
{padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;}
As an addendum to my previous response on the matter of the quality
of private services as in cell-phone, I would be remiss if I did
not share what I heard during my recent trip to Assam:
*** That service is uniformly bad thruout Assam. And the worst is
the darling of the private enterprise
advocates: Reliance; so much so that there was some kind of a
'Bandh' against purported Reliance deceit of consumers.
I was loaned a cellphone from a new service provider by a relative,
which, amazingly worked from my native village at remote Namti, but
would not work from some of Guahati's most important localities
such as Beltola and Rajgarh.
*** Most surprisingly the cell phone service that generally is
acknowledged to be the most reliable across Assam is that provided
by the Indian Govt. operated BSNL, but at a cost. Apparently it is
the most expensive of cell phone services.
So much for the conventional wisdom about public vs. private
enterprise in India, specifically as it relates to cell phone
service in Assam.
At 5:06 PM +0000 11/18/07, Malabika Brahma wrote:
Cell phone services are available all over India at a very
reasonable rate with excellent service, however electricity is not.
This is because cell phone was considered a luxury and hence left to
the market forces whereas electricity was considered essential and
left for the government to provide.
Government always messes up whereas fair market dynamics does not.
Utpal
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