Out of box 3.0

If one analyses India, one can see various missing links, potential ideas, and opportunities waiting to be tapped. But then things do not seem to move at the desired pace. For example, some simple ideas like having a data collection agency across India for conducting surveys or an idea of providing marketing, packaging, and export as a service to Indian housewives for delivering their home-made food products to the market or career counseling platforms in each city and likewise many other ideas have a great business potential but have remained untapped till date. Here I am listing some of my out of box ideas for few of the recurrent problems of India.

1. On Kashmir:

Step 1: would be to develop Kashmir through its internal resources like Saffron, tourism, apple, orchard trade. Connect Srinagar with Vaishno Devi. Engage Ex-army personnel who are familiar with the territory of the land to engage in joint business proposals with Kashmiris. End corruption by using technology in Kashmir. Develop rail and road network from East to West and North to South in Kashmir.

Result: Kashmir becomes richer.

Time: 7 years

Step 2: would be to do solid border fencing. Use smart fences, drones, satellite, night-vision facilities etc to secure the borders and reduce the infiltration. At the same time, court Pakistan in dialogue process to break the offensive process.

Result: Less inflow of terrorists.

Time: 3 years

Step 3: Reduce the hostilities and bitter memories of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters toward India which they might have harbored due to unintentional conflicts with Army. Remove AFSPA but also simultaneously remove article 35 A. Try to maximize our chances in Jammu and Ladakh region and win the state assembly elections by grooming a new young leadership which is more favorable to India. Once that is done, try to undo article 370 as well. Allocate seats for Kashmiris in all central and state universities so vigorous student exchange may occur.

Result: Kashmir would be better integrated with India as more inter-mixing and inter-dining would occur.

Time: 8 years

Once we have achieved the above three steps, we should move to the fourth.

Step 4: Engage Pakistan in a resolution of Kashmir issue. Agree with LAC as an international border. Enter in give and take by agreeing to CPEC and develop the tail links of highways we develop in Kashmir to CPEC. In return, get access to Central Asia and Afghanistan. Declare Siachin as a mountain of peace and International research station jointly controlled by India and Pakistan.

Taking such measures will solve the world longest pending dispute in most credible and long-lasting manner.

Interview 3.0

Q. How to develop the culture of Library?
A. Change in the RTE act and ensure that libraries are made mandatory part of it.
Year around competition at school and college level with respect to books, quizzes etc.
Open more reader's club.
Translation of books in local languages.
Providing rewards to people, identify young authors.
Reading, writing,  and speaking comes as a package.

Q. Psychological counseling and intervention?
A. It is all about listening and understanding other person's concern in an unconditional manner.

Q. Maldive crisis?
A. China factor, Began with Nausheed, Dictatorship of Yameen,
UN intervention necessary. The Maldives falling in the Chinese debt-trap
India should use diplomatic channels to bring the Maldives in line.

Q. Modicare vs Obamacare?
A. Size and scale are different.
B. It is like the anti-poverty program.
C. Center-state share in the scheme
D. Obamacare was also aimed at other issues of medical system
E. Obamacare had no limits on subsidy.

Q. Net neutrality?
A. Governments should mandate Internet service providers to treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by the user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication.

Q. Should the government go for net neutrality?
A. Yes sir, the government should go for net neutrality in order to protect startups and smaller players and avoid monopoly in the market but the government should provide some free MB of data to each individual BPL so that people can learn facebook, google, youtube and WhatsApp.

Q. Do you think you are overqualified for this job?
A. Sir the job of a civil servant and especially IAS is a very very challenging job. My skill sets are very small. There is lot more to learn and do. So I am definitely not overqualified for this job.

Q. India vs USA work culture?
A. Getting the tools right first
B. Culture of excellence and perfection
C. No sir culture, no hierarchy, flat culture
D. Focus on technology and education
E. Emphasis on details

Q. Palmistry a pseudo science?
A. Sir, I do not think it is pseudoscience. It is similar to our social sciences as most of the work is correlational rather than cause-effect.
My reading of the subject shows that

Out of box 2.0

Indians were the first to launch most of the forward-looking visionary policies in social space. For example, national family planning program was launched as early as 1952. Similarly, first export promotion zone was set up in 1964. Be it universal health insurance or universal job guarantee scheme or the reservation to people at margins and periphery, we were the first one to take the initiatives. But somehow our plans did not work. Countries who picked up our ideas and executed well reaped huge dividends of such schemes. For example, Chinese SEZ or family planning initiatives came later than India's but took China to great heights. The reason for our failure is we could not execute the plans in details. It required some out of box execution strategies to achieve the desired goals. In this series, we will explore some out of box ideas for women upliftment and systemic improvement in India's architecture.

With respect to women upliftment:
1. We should integrate transgender community as a change agent. Transgenders come to each house to collect their donation whenever a wedding occurs. All the people around ask them to give their blessings to the new bride for a male child. Their blessings are considered very auspicious. So, if we can sensitize them to not just give blessings for a male child but also for a female child then it may help in changing people's orientation.
2. We should create jobs with 4 to 6 hours of working. This will help us in harnessing the potential of a large number of housewives and women who are restricted in houses. For example, phone based marketing, call center based jobs, women helplines etc.
3. We should launch an education van which should go to residential complexes and educate housewives about various issues like english education, skill sets, and other new productive skills.
4. A scheme for credit points for employers who employ women workers should be launched. Such employers could be given tax incentives for maintaining a minimum level of diversity in the workplace.
5. The issue of women empowerment and safety begin at home. Every person has sisters or daughters and mother at home towards whom he is always concerned and respectful. However, all such women often become victim of some or other abuse. If such women discuss the issue at home then it can sensitize the male members in serious manner.
6. Another idea is to shift companies to tier 2 towns so that more opportunity could be opened for women of smaller towns. Further to promote the entrepreneur skill set, provide the service based marketing, export, packaging skills to the home based products. This can bring greater change in the economic conditions of such women.
7. Lastly, we need to launch nukkad nataks, content in local languages and free whatsApp, Youtube and facebook data for women to connect with rest of the world.
8. The IGNOU model of education should be further promoted so that women of the country can chart her own trajectory in the society.