A Glimpse into KGBV Dambal

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Uncategorized

Little girls wearing green T-shirts, with neatly plaited hair held by white ribbons, and in some cases, a white hairband, were attending a maths class and chatting at the back benches while the teacher explained how to read numbers in the range of 10 lakhs and above. This is the KGBV residential school at Dambal village in Mundaragi Taluk, Gadag district. It was a spontaneous decision to visit the school, and I had informed them just an hour before.

The idea behind KGBV is to provide quality education, a good learning environment, and nutritious food for girls from weaker economic segments of society. This initiative is part of Sarva Shikshana Abhiyan. While there may be some duplication in Karnataka, with institutions like Morarji Desai residential schools and Kittur Rani Chennamma residential schools, KGBV serves as the sole residential schooling facility for girls in some states.

KGB Dambal has classes 6 to 8 with a hundred girl students. However, the available infrastructure leaves much to be desired. Though three classrooms were available, bedding arrangements were inadequate. The dining space was also insufficient, forcing children to sit on the floor for their meals.

After lunch with the students, I attended a class six maths session. DDPI also accompanied me. He wrote some division problems on the board and asked the girls to solve them. While some of the girls got the answers right, others struggled. When asked to apply division to a real-life example, such as sharing money among friends, they understood it better.

Next, I moved to class seven and had a discussion with the students. The amenities at this KGBV were not up to the mark. But still, they expressed that they were having a good time here. They said they do not miss home or their parents as they are with their friends. Implicitly, these kids are gaining social skills and learning to work in a group and with a group.

Many of these kids are from weak socioeconomic backgrounds. Some are children of single parents, and in a few cases, both parents are no longer alive. When asked whether the teachers are taking good care of them, one child stood up and said “The teacher is like her mother, she takes care of us very well. They care for us even when students fall ill”. There was no teacher or officer with me at that moment, and these words from that child are the biggest appreciation that the faculty team could receive from anyone.

I inquired about their plans for the future, considering KGBV only goes up to class eight. They are aware of the nearby RMSA school where they can continue their education. One little girl said she wants to become a policewoman and work in the Mundaragi police station, while another dreams of becoming a teacher. Dreams in the making.

All of us are indirectly playing a role in making these dreams a reality. As I mentioned earlier, sleeping arrangements are inadequate at this KGBV. The government had already sanctioned a dormitory block for the school costing ₹108 lakhs, but due to local issues, the project has not taken off. It’s our responsibility to see this through. Nothing should stop these young women from having a comfortable sleep and keeping them fresh for their learning pursuits.

Residential schools play an important role in providing a secure educational environment along with nutritional security for children who need it most. But are we doing enough? We should not be satisfied. The amenities provided in these residential schools vary from institution to institution. Some do not even have the basic facilities. We cannot defend our inadequacies by claiming that the facilities are better than what these children would have at home. The standard of education imparted at these institutions also needs constant evaluation and improvement.

Even at this KGBV, the learning levels of students were not uniform. Some struggle with concepts from previous classes. When there is a controlled environment focused on learning, this is a surprising outcome. We need to conduct standardized tests across different residential schools to identify learning deficiencies and address them adequately.

The role of teaching staff in residential schools goes beyond imparting textbook knowledge. They have the opportunity to shape students into better citizens and provide career guidance. The level of learning needs to surpass that of regular schools. Faculty orientation programs are essential to enhance the effectiveness of residential schools. When children take the first step by joining these schools, parents expect it to be for their betterment. Taking the next step towards creating a better future for these children is challenging.

I also felt that children are often left to the care of a warden. In cases where the staff are not providing due care to the students, the means to raise issues is very limited. This is especially true for younger students who are in the tender age of their lives. I’m thinking of having a hotline for students to reach the CEO or DC during specific hours each week. This will ensure that requests or complaints are duly acted upon by the administration.

Another thought that came to mind is to create a commitment from district-level officers for each of these residential schools. Along with providing continuous support to the students by regularly visiting the school, the officer can oversee the amenities being provided. As senior officers, they can initiate development projects for the mentored schools. This can begin with the DC and CEO. It should not be mandatory, but senior officers should be encouraged to take on this responsibility.

These are a few thoughts that came to mind after visiting this school. There is significant potential for positive intervention. These young children are innocent and impressionable. I feel we owe them more than just implementing government schemes. We can make an extra effort for them. As a proud father of just 11-month-old daughter, I see these young girls as the future Samudhra. I want nothing but the best for her. These students deserve nothing less…

Leveraging Data in Public Administration

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Uncategorized

In public administration, making decisions is a routine affair. Each day revolves around making decisions about various files, processes or public applications. All this is in the pursuit of the hallowed public good. Most of the conclusions that we arrive at are partly induced by what we are aware of the subject and in part how the information is presented before us.

The information on the subject plays a crucial role in public administration. Do we have better sources? The answer is Yes. In today’s digital era, most government services are delivered online, and even services requiring visits to government offices are supported by computerized systems. These digital processes have amassed a substantial quantum of data on the nature & timing of services being opted for by the public.

We are sitting atop a goldmine of data on availing of government schemes and services, but is it being utilised to improve service delivery? What are the challenges in the current environment? Each department has its own data collection standards, storage & access protocols and varying levels of data authenticity. Second, there is no Standard Operating Procedure or API for sharing data between departments. Third, there is a great need for nurturing human resources to handle these Big Data challenges.

First step, we can explore the possibilities of harnessing data within a department/organisation to aid decision-making or improve its services. A detailed study of the various sources of data, how it is aggregated, digitized or manually and the validity of the data collected. The organisation should also identify the questions they seek answers for or areas where there are chances of improvement based on the synthesized data. They need to identify how the information needs to be visualized for ease of consumption regularly.

Let us take NWKRTC for instance. With a 5000-strong fleet operating across 6 districts having an average of 24 Lakhs passengers per day. In every ticket issued, we get the data on the source, destination, time and value of travel. That is 24 lakh data sets per day and over a year it leads to an astonishing data set with 87.6 crore rows. To imagine that so much information is left untapped for increasing efficiency is simply mind-boggling.

This data accumulated over the years may provide us with statistics-based trends on the demands of passengers on particular days or particular times of a day in certain locations. Presently, operations are seen as an intuitive area based on experiences. However, information derived from past passenger data can help us chart out more accurate operational plans. This can give a huge jump in service quality and operational efficiency. A win-win for passengers and the corporation. It can help in decisions like culling out non-remunerative duplication of services thereby improving the financial health of the corporation. This is just an example; many more opportunities lie waiting in all sectors.

To achieve the elusive fantasy of data-based decision-making or strategy development, two things are of utmost importance. A strong-willed leader with the resources and vision for the development of tools suited for the respective organisation. Direct involvement by top management in guiding every step of the project is essential, as such a tech-oriented project rarely finds encouraging reception until it proves its utility. The other is nurturing quality human resources to provide the expected actional information based on the raw source data. We need to recognize this as a specialized task warranting professional personnel on the job.

I have come to realise that a pilot implementation as a proof of concept is always the best way to start something big. It helps us understand the challenges that will come up during full-fledged implementation and also convinces fence-sitters to get on board. A data-rich organisation such as NWKRTC is a perfect place for such a Big-Data analytics project clubbed with interactive data visualization tools that will help the management to explore its data. Such an organisation has the flexibility to create such a project at its level without many bureaucratic hurdles.

While we are discussing much about data, there may be genuine apprehension that the use of public data may lead to a scenario of a surveillance state. The kind in which we are shown in sci-fi movies where the state can track and trace every movement of its citizens and also to predict with some level of accuracy, the next step of any individual based on his/her past actions. Or can we have a scenario like in the movie Minority Report’ where crimes are prevented even before they happen? A crime-free society – a utopian scenario but what will be the trade-off? There are chances of public data falling into the hands of special interest groups/companies that may use it to further their interests.

This takes us to the question of having a strong Data Policy backed with a resilient data security protocol in place. This is much needed for every organisation/department and for the government as a whole. While we focus on utilizing public data for improved service delivery and better focus, there is a huge need for guarding it against any form of misuse. There is a requirement for policy and legislative interventions in this regard. With the pace of data accrual across sectors not slowing down the need for such interventions is highly urgent.

We in the government sector have a long way to go in the domain of data analytics and directing the use of public data towards better governance. Nevertheless, I feel that we are poised to take up this challenge in the coming days as Big Data, Data analysis, and Data visualization have matured and become more accessible in recent years. Surely, it is an exciting time to be in public administration and witness the turn of wheels to the tune of DATA.

Sarige Spandana – a small step towards a better work environment

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Uncategorized

Shri Manjunatha, a retired Traffic Controller of NWKRTC travelled from Gokak taluk in Belagavi district to Bangalore on 26th November 2014. He wanted to meet the Chief Minister during the Janata Darshan program. He had a serious problem. The division office was not providing five annual increments due to be implemented despite having a court order to that effect. He had given multiple representations to senior officials. But none seemed to resolve the issue, and he was asked to address it through his previous place of work first. He believed that meeting the Chief Minister would make the wheels turn. After a day-long wait, he handed over his application to the Chief Minister and a CMJD application number was generated.

Our bureaucracy swung into action. Excel sheets containing details of applications received were shared. Meetings were conducted to follow up and directions regarding compliances to be submitted were issued. Manjunatha’s application too came in. What could not be achieved by applications to senior officials, now happened in a matter of ten days. Despite the paperwork needing to be processed first by KKRTC’s Bijapur division and then by NWKRTC’s Chikkodi division, our officers remained undeterred. They knew it had to be done and they got it done. Manjunatha couldn’t be more glad. 

Now the big question. Should Manjunatha have gone to the extent of meeting the Chief Minister to resolve a simple establishment matter that was supposed to have been handled by the Division level office?? Did it require involving the CMO and Transport Department to solve his issue?? Don’t we have the responsibility to make life easier for Manjunatha and his 21,000+ colleagues?? Should the higher levels of government be burdened to look into the issues that are supposed to be handled by us?? Sarige Spandana emerged as the answer to these questions. It is a one-of-a-kind grievance redressal platform for staff of transport corporation.

At the outset, Sarige Spandana might seem like yet another grievance management portal when there are established systems such as iPGRS or CPGRAMS. Though these systems have been in vogue for quite some time there were some hurdles for our staff to use these platforms. Firstly, Details such as address, Family ID number, and mobile number are collected upfront, facilitating speedy submission of grievances during subsequent visits. The issues submitted are then routed through a central agency tasked with this platform which forwards it to respective departments for resolution. It can be noticed that most of the action required on the complaint will be at the ground level. Such a tedious process was not desirable. 

Most of our staff have limited experience with IT tools, so any solution we create must be simple, mobile-friendly, and user-friendly. But we were confident that our staff could navigate an IT application if it is simple because they have been using the Online Leave Management System for quite some time. So Sarige Spandana was designed to have a mobile-only User Interface layout with most of the data auto-fetched from the backend database with the employee having to enter only his/her PF number. A simple OTP verification of the registered mobile number skips any need for registration by the employee.

For any such tool to be effective in redressing issues/complaints of our labour force, there is a need for stringent oversight of the process. This is mandatorily needed especially in the initial phase. Hence it was decided that Sarige Spandana would be directly monitored from the office of the Managing Director. All responses to grievances will be checked for completeness and only if they are convincing that the issue pointed out has been resolved, the grievance be treated as closed. Otherwise, the file will be sent back to the concerned officer to relook at and ensure it is handled properly. 

Sarige Spandana was launched by the Hon’ble Transport Minister on 8th January. It has been nearly a month since Sarige Spandana was initiated and 722 complaints have been registered in the system out of which 567 have been resolved. 137 are under process and 18 were rejected as they were not about the objective of this platform. The requests received through this portal ranged from annual increments not being implemented, CL/EL not reflecting in LMS, leaves being rejected, delay of Medical bills, appeals against punishment not cleared and PF details. In some cases, there wasn’t any grievance, it was our staff asking for some information such as when their next increment is due.

Smt Renuka Patil, Conductor of Belagavi 1 Depot wanted to get repairs done to the Crew restroom in their depot. She registered her grievance in Sarige Spandana and within a couple of days, the repair works were taken up by the Civil wing of the corporation. Shri Nagappa Kambli raised the issue of his PF slip having some errors that need to be corrected through the portal. His division officials responded by rectifying the PF slip and sharing the new document through the portal. These are just a couple of examples of employee grievances being effectively handled with Sarige Spandana. 

Though in the last month, we have received 722 grievances there were some disparities between divisions. Divisions in the Dharwad district, where the launch happened, were having more grievances. Maybe more awareness is the reason. This also shows that there is a need to take this platform to other divisions through IEC activities. Along with this, we need to collect feedback from the cases that have been resolved through this feedback. Labour representatives are also to be contacted to get their feedback for improvements in Sarige Spandana. 

Finally, even if we discount some of the applications filed in this portal asking for information or for correcting clerical mistakes in some documents, a substantial portion of the grievances directly affect our staff. Deployment of Sarige Spandana is not an end in itself. It is a means to improve workforce welfare and provide a more conducive work environment. The challenge is to ensure that Sarige Spandana takes root and becomes a part of the organizational fabric. The enthusiastic adoption of this platform by our staff and the effective resolution of their issues by responsible officers will establish Sarige Spandana as an integral institution within NWKRTC.

Next Stop, Digital Payments! : NWKRTC Drives Forward with UPI

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Uncategorized

The Unified Payments Interface, more popularly known as UPI, was launched in 2016. Recently, we have witnessed the humble QR code appearing not only in posh outlets but also in roadside shops. No commercial entity has been immune to the disruptive technology of UPI. Due to a significant push by entities such as PhonePe, PayTm, and Google Pay, this particular digital payment option has become very familiar to the public.

NWKRTC has marked a milestone by completing over 65,000 UPI transactions valued over Rs.1.5 Crore in the pilot implementation in Hubli Rural Division. The pilot has been implemented in 451 buses of five depots of this division since November 2023. This Digital payment initiative is done without financial burden on NWKRTC in collaboration with PhonePe. In this article, we will see how North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) adapted itself to embrace this public good.

For a corporation handling over 10 lakh individual cash transactions daily, it might appear perplexing to the common man why NWKRTC has not embraced any digital payment options on its buses. This concern has been reiterated on various occasions on social media and in print. From assisting passengers by eliminating the need for cash to addressing the perpetual issue of providing exact change for conductors, digital payments offer numerous advantages. Consequently, the question of ‘why not’ becomes even more prominent.

If something was this evident, what prevented NWKRTC from joining the bandwagon of millions of merchants being onboarded by the host of UPI Payment companies? Though the market for new-age handheld ticket vending machines had arrived on the scene a few years back, our organisation was falling behind on its tech transformation voyage. Also, we had purchased devices that did not have internet connectivity quite recently which was still within its warranty period. So adopting new hardware was not an option to start with along with device upgrades being cost-prohibitive given the financial constraints faced by NWKRTC. 

Then comes the challenge of scale. Though there are multitudes of vendors making use of digital payment options for many years now, NWKRTC with more than 4500 buses with conductors and the routes assigned liable to be changed and accounting of each rupee collected is being scrutinized, adopting any new method to meet this scale is a challenge of its own. Given this scenario, we needed a solution that is not cost-intensive, has some means of authentication and is easy to be adopted by our conductors.

In such circumstances, we received a proposal from the Transit & Government wing of PhonePe company that seemed to meet our requirements. They proposed a system which consisted of a Static QR code placed with the conductor that will be mapped to the particular bank account of the depot they are working with. This solution also came with a dashboard that allowed us to monitor and in rare cases, if required initiate a refund of the amount transferred by the depot officials. The business version of their mobile application allowed the conductor to authenticate the transaction if needed. This meant that a digital payment option could be provided without incurring expenses for hardware upgrades or service charges.

As simple as the idea of having a QR code with the conductor may seem it needs coordination between Traffic, Accounts and the IT department at the corporate office and train & handhold more than 150 conductors at the depot level. To adopt this solution, we had to make necessary changes in our ticketing machines and backend systems. This has to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops to be approved by all connected teams before it is implemented. In September 2023, the UPI payment option, in collaboration with PhonePe, was introduced in Hubli Moffusil 3 depot, which operates around 60 services, mostly long-distance and premier services.

The first depot we chose was selected for its high-value tickets and better-trained crew.  We targeted the higher digital literacy of the possible passengers of these services and the lesser transaction count in this depot as we did not want to burden our staff with this new payment method introduced. With passengers able to save the expense of handling hard currency and our conductors not having to dispense high-value change, we received a positive response. Within a month, we were ready to extend it to all five depots of Hubli Rural Division.

From November 2023, all conductors of 451 services of the Hubli Rural division were equipped with QR code lanyards provided by PhonePe. First few days, the number of transactions seemed to be very low. Gradually it picked up pace and averaged about 500+ each day. Initial mistakes by our staff were dealt with gently so that they were not discouraged from using UPI. The initiative had positive reviews in all formats of media, social, print and visual and garnered interest amongst the public too. 

By mid-December 2023, the cumulative UPI transactions in the Hubli Rural division had surpassed 65,000, amounting to approximately Rs. 1.50 Crores. On average, more than 1000 transactions were conducted daily using UPI. When comparing the value of cash transactions against UPI transactions in this division, the percentage is around 8%. In terms of the transaction count, the percentage is even lower, approximately 2%. This highlights that, despite the demand for digital transactions, widespread acceptance will require more time. But questions started coming in about why this was done only in one division rather than in all divisions. We were on the back foot and had to scramble to extend it to all divisions.

Expanding to all divisions would mean providing QR code tags to 7000 plus conductors in 5 districts and 7 divisions, updating software in their mobile, training & orienting them. Along with it significant IEC also needs to be planned. We had a productive meeting with executives of PhonePe last week and many of these things have started to take shape. If all goes as planned, by the end of January 2024, all buses in NWKRTC will have an on-board UPI payment facility. 

Looking back, there are some small lessons to be noticed in this UPI-based digital payment journey at NWKRTC. Firstly, having a small localised pilot implementation is helpful in many ways. It helps us to understand clearly what we are getting ourselves into. It helps in convincing sceptical people and naysayers at the same time. A proof of concept is much better than arguing in theory. At most, if the plan doesn’t work as hoped, it allows us to get out of it with minimum damage. 

Secondly, if a proposed solution seeks to help both sides of an exchange, the chances of it being acceptable are manifold. In our case, both passengers and our staff benefitted from the introduction of a digital payment option. None of their interests were detrimentally affected and hence the chances of this solution thriving were higher. Thirdly, any solution must be presented to a person who is in a position to decide to implement it. Many a time in our system, there are many hurdles for this to happen and it delays embracing better ideas. 

NWKRTC is primed to be the first RTC in Karnataka to have a complete digital payment system in all of its buses. Implementation of UPI-based digital payments option in buses of NWKRTC was not a flashy and expensive venture. It was a frugal innovation in the true sense of Indian jugaad. That is what makes this initiative more satisfying. Without financially burdening the organisation, we have managed to step out and make changes in how people travel, Cash-free and hassle-free.

Climate conundrum ?!?

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Uncategorized

Climate change is one of the pressing issues of the present world. But it has not yet become part of the common lingo. Climate Change has not meant much to me except during preparing for my civil service exams. The fact of knowing about it and coming to terms with it is totally poles apart. So it was surprising, even for me, when I got myself nominated for the Leadership in Climate Change Management program. As a part of this program, I was supposed to attend a week-long session at Administrative Training Institute, Mysore, in collaboration with WRI India and NIUA.

To be honest, I was not expecting much from this program and had a minimal idea of what to expect. My nomination to this program was much to the insistence of Priyanga saying this will be useful for me, professionally. I had my reservations. But still, I took off for this training.

The LCCM course gave us complete access to the different facets of Climate Change and its impacts, how we can counter the emissions we are producing through concrete mitigation measures and how we prepare to adapt to the inevitable effects of the damages we have already made to the environment. As a developing nation, India does not have the luxury of sacrificing economic growth for mitigation attempts. At the same time, we must take steps to protect our people from the adverse effects of climate change.

The training program was an excellent platform to engage with experts and domain leaders from various fields. O P Agarwal, Retired IAS officer and former CEO of WRI India began the program with a Case study of a city faced with the steep challenge of reducing its emissions. During the week, we dealt mostly with interactive learning and less with lectures. Through the CLAP (Climate Action Plan) game, we intuitively learnt how to plan to tackle emissions and how to prioritise the measures identified. It helped make us understand the relative importance of mitigation actions and made us sensitive to practical limitations.

I have to mention the technical stuff that was jammed into us. Stuff such as Green House Gas Inventory I felt was too technical. But we were told, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”. That sounded right and we need to keep tabs on how we are emitting and put the brakes in place. CURB (Climate Action for Urban Sustainability – how this became an acronym is beyond me) is a tool that helps cities to identify actions to fight climate change and understand the results of their intervention.

Though the objective of this program was to learn about climate change, I benefitted from exposure to another area, Urban development. I have not yet had an opportunity to work in the Urban Development sector till now. Except for myself, all participants were urban practitioners. The experiences and challenges they shared during the interactions helped me understand this demanding sector better. The efforts needed in managing Solid waste and tackling urban floods gave me a glimpse into what I can expect if I get to work in a city.

All said, implementation is the key and stakeholders of any intervention are not reasonable at all times. These issues factor in a lot when it comes to successful implementation. Various public utilities in a city are provided by so many organisations that bringing synergy among them could be quite a challenge. The City Council needs to take inspirational leadership to bring these bodies on a common platform and show them why it is needed to work together, not in isolation to make meaningful efforts to tackle climate change.

This week-long training is not where this program ends. We are supposed to do a six-month-long project, a Capstone Project, through which we are expected to build on our learnings. I have chosen to do the project in my field, Transportation. It is still in a very rudimentary state. Barely a fully thought idea. To make some improvements to transport services in Hubli city. But I am sure that I am in a comfortable position to make a change, however small it might be.

To sum up, the question before each one of us is that, how to do what it takes to mitigate and adapt to climate change without sacrificing the economic drive and needs of a developing country. The solution may be Climate Financing by Developed countries. It might be a case of very little, very late that it might not make much of a difference. We have to do what we can afford to do and pull our weight, even when the world watches on…

If this is your dream, you have to go fight for it . . .

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Movies

Making me have some form of exercise is an arduous exercise in itself. That being the case, I need some distraction while I am slogging on the treadmill. Movies help me take my mind off the drill and get the time flowing. So, early morning browsing through Netflix landed me on ‘American Underdog’.

American Underdog is a biographical sports film based on the life of National Football League[NFL] player Kurt Warner. First, I did not know a thing about American football and even after the movie was over, I did not know anything. I was more into the human interest story part of the movie than as a sports fan. Getting to know that the drama depicted in the movie actually happened to someone in real life is an enticing factor for me. That factor uplifts most aspects such as drama, emotions, sorrow and much more.

Kurt Warner – is a ‘never give up dreamer’ who goes to the lows of life but still dreams of making it to his goal – the NFL. Two things I liked about Kurt. One, In his early days he decides that he wants to have a career in professional football at the highest level. He relentlessly pursues it. Even when he is not able to make it to the NFL, he moves on to other forms of the game to stay relevant and as he says in the movie “If I have a ball in my hand, I just feel like everything is going to be alright”. We never know when we might get the right chance, staying in the game matters.

Two, he and Brenda. Brenda is a divorcee with two children, of which Zack is visually challenged. Kurt is never shy in courting Brenda despite her reluctance which fades away in the of Kurt’s genuine feelings for her. The way he treats Brenda’s children like his own from the start is so heart-warming, especially with Zack. Kurt does everything he can to protect Sarah and the kids. The scene where he runs more than a couple of miles under heavy snowfall to get gas for their stranded vehicle strongly underlined his steadfast commitment to them.

Like any two people in a relationship, Kurt and Brenda have their fair share of trouble. Changing priorities, living far apart from each other, shifting responsibilities and some more make the bond between them break at one point. But they realize that despite the flaws, they can only experience happiness with each other. Feeling happy with each other, isn’t that the most simple definition of love. I guess, I believe it to be so. I liked the way they reciprocated support for the others’ professional pursuits.

Overall, even for a non-football non-sports follower, the movie interests at a deeper level. A simple person with a dream and despite all odds and naysayers how his dream translates into reality. To see the story of someone who rose to the top from nowhere has definitely a feel-good factor and that made it good enough!!!

Taanakkaran – My Take

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Movies

The summer was packed with big-budget movies such as Beast, KGF-2 and RRR mongering at the box office. Taanakkaran bloomed up on Disney+Hotstar like a Bougainvilla, quietly adding beauty to the scene without making a lot of fuss. Taanakkaran is written and directed by Tamizh, a debutant. Vikram Prabhu is cast as the lead protagonist (Arivu) while Lal, MS Bhaskar, Madhusudhan Rao and Bose Venkat play supporting roles. The story revolves around the incidents in a Police recruit training school and the odds the protagonist faces there.

Arivu, an outspoken and upright youth who reads Marx in his leisure time, lands up in Police Recruit School[PRS]. The entire movie revolves within the PRS except for a short flashback sequence. The PRS is under the vice grip of Inspector Muthupandi (Madhusudhan) and ADI Eshwaramoorthy (Lal). Arivu starts to question a lot of established practices in the training school. As expected he gets into the bad books of the superior officers who want to make a lesson out of him. The movie chronicles the experiences of discrimination and borderline brutality that young recruits undergo.

A lot is spoken about discipline throughout the movie. The concept of obeying orders without raising any questions. The state of servitude in the guise of discipline. Is this a vice or virtue, in the context of a uniformed force such as the Police? Uniformed men and women need to take orders daily without arguing with their superiors. Their work environment is quite harsh and they have to fend for themselves in many instances. In this scenario, discipline is a virtue. When the discipline moves toward the other extreme, executing even illegal orders or behaving brutally, it becomes a vice.

In other government jobs, though there is a need for hierarchy and discipline for efficient functioning, there is a need for the exchange of opinions across levels. A scene in the movie shows a sentry being posted beside a tree, day and night. Sellakkannu (MS Bhaskar) explains that the sentry was originally posted to save the sapling from being grazed. Now the sapling is a tree but still, a sentry is posted. A mindless tradition. In administration, we have many such practices. Meaningful dissent in a structured manner is much needed.

Lal convincingly plays Eshwaramoorthy as the ruthless drill instructor, a terror amongst the recruits. He has an ego as high as the mountains and earnestly believes that mute discipline is the foundation of an effective police force. Vikram Prabhu plays the subdued yet stoic role of a young recruit expressing an apt amount of emotion. MS Bhaskar as Sellakkannu, a disheartened and subjugated constable who is unduly denied promotion fits the bill. Eeshwari by Anjali Nair is a character that does not serve any purpose.

The movie had its fair share of cinematic liberty. These days, which movie doesn’t have them. Also, clichés are unavoidable in underdog stories. In a couple of scenes, Priyanga was prodding me that this character will be killed shortly. It happened in the next few minutes. In the final segments of the movie, despite intuitions of an expected ending, I was rooting for Arivu to win. That itself is a silent success for the movie. The climax was truly anticlimactic far from usual expectations.

The systemic injustice that is entrenched over the decades is an underlying thread throughout the movie. The events leading to the climax convince Arivu to quit his dream of becoming a cop. Bose voices out the most powerful dialogue of the movie. Bose asks Arivu if conducting protests or agitations will rectify the system. He says emotion without power will destroy him. Power is strength. The system is against you. But there are ample opportunities within the system to enter it and seize power. You should get the power and then right the system.

This is spoken not only to Arivu but to all of us. Like it or not, we are part of the system in one way or the other. At the same time, we all have our own complaints regarding the system. There is a definite need for change. But should we expect someone from outside to come and right the ship for us?? The question is for each of us to answer…

From the campaign trail…

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Books

TV shows revolving around US politics like House of Cards and Designated Survivor have intrigued my interest. In Part 2 of A Promised Land, we get to see a detailed account of the race to become the official candidate of the Democratic Party and the final showdown in the general elections. In this blog post, we will be talking about the nature of politicking in the US, administrative lessons from Team Obama’s Iowa operation, the use of technology in political campaigning and how Barack stays focused even in a crisis.

Politicking in the United States of America is so different from the scenes we witness in our country. Throughout this part of the book, on every page, the difference is so stark. How candidates do their groundwork even years before the actual election, the mechanisms in which candidates fund their campaigns and the different experts they engage to refine their campaign efforts were engaging.

The most noticeable event is the number of public debates the candidates have to undergo, let it be the primaries or the general elections. They engage in substance based debates against their fellow competitors in full public glare. The amount of prep they do before each debate conveys the seriousness. One another facet is the public appearance of the candidate’s family during campaign events. The pride the politicians show in their family and attempting to strike a chord with the common man while displaying strong familial bonds was refreshing. The spouse is not treated superficial addition to the campaign but their opinions are valued and attacked.

Financial expenditure made for election campaigning is simply staggering. In the 2008 US Presidential elections which Barack contested, his campaign raised $778 million. This was roughly double the amount the Republican candidate, John McCain managed to raise. Much of this amount came from individual small donors mobilised by an effective grassroots campaign aided by active volunteers. As of 2008, public funding for Presidential polls was $84.1 million with a condition not to accept private funding. Given how small this figure compares to the actual amount that was raised by the campaign, Barack declined public funding.

In the journey of Barack becoming the Democratic party’s nominee, the State of Iowa was a virtual roadblock. Iowa held the first primary in the entire country and it set the tone for the rest of the states. So Iowa was a must-win state for Team Obama. Paul Tewes was the leading the effort in Iowa. In the early weeks of the campaign, he had put up signs in the office with the motto “Respect, Empower, Include”. Barack writes the tone of the campaign in Iowa was – “grassroots, no hierarchy, irreverent and slightly maniac”. Sometimes, a bit of maniac is the magic that gets things going.

The campaign in Iowa started by having a strong grassroots level volunteer base that was drawn from all walks of life. The feedback and connectedness provided by this setup proved vital. In our urge to satisfy our bosses, we fail to keep our ears to the ground. The bottom-up flow of information is crucial. Tewes forced even senior staff to engage in door-to-door campaigning. The need to maintain humility and understand that one is only a simple cog in the grand system is a much-needed antidote to the sense of indispensability. Tewes was passionate, inspired and was able to take the whole team along.

Barack explains the winning combination of youth + technology that drove his campaign well ahead of his competitors. 2008 was an era that saw the beginnings of smartphones and social media had not completely taken root. The email links from tech-savvy volunteers helped the campaign spread its message and in turn, brought small donors into their fold. The Obama campaign integrated its website with social networking features such as forming groups, raising funds and organising events. Barack mentions how malleable this technology when deployed by entrenched powers can be used to distract and divide. (An implicit remark on the Cambridge Analytica Data scandal)

Between a ruthless campaign, wins and losses, scathing media attacks and the absence of family time staying focused on the goal and maintaining composure is nearly impossible. If winning the Iowa primaries brought boundless exhilaration to the team, the loss suffered in New Hampshire brought devastation. In situations such as this, a leader needs to convey optimism and resilience in face of defeat. The team should be impressed upon not lose sight of the bigger picture.

I’ve trained myself to take the long view, about how important it is to stay focused on your goals rather than getting hung up on the daily ups and downs – Barack Obama, A Promised Land

Lastly, I want to describe the odds faced by Barack in both the primaries and the general election. At the beginning of the campaign, Barack was a first time US Senator from Illinois who had not served in uniform or had prior experience in national politics. Hillary Clinton on the other hand symbolised the Washington elite with her vast experiences as First Lady and two-term US Senator from New York. She had more experience in national politics and policy issues than Barack. John McCain, a Republican, 4th term Senator from Arizona and a celebrated war veteran who already had a taste of Presidential campaigns in 2000.

Barack’s inexperience in administration was constantly brought up by his opponents as a weakness. The campaign faced many pitfalls and gaffes but they weathered all those to emerge victoriously. Only through perseverance, consistency and resilience, Barack and his team were able to manage something that was deemed implausible. Despite all the adversities stacked against him, Barack strode to win the nomination of the Democratic Party and went on to win the General election to become the 44th President of the United States.

There is not a Black America and a white America and a Latino America and an Asian America. There’s the United States of America – Barack Obama, Speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004

The Audacity of Hope

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Uncategorized

Only after too much of insistence from Priyanga, I managed to pick up “A Promised Land” by Barack Obama. This is one bulky read running into 700 odd pages and supposedly there is a second volume in the pipeline. As I neared it first hundred pages, I felt never will I be able to cover the entire book into one post. So I thought, let me write it in parts. I saw the journey of an ordinary African American man without any political pedigree rising to the most powerful office of the world as nothing but an audacity to hope. And hence the title. This post covers Part 1 – The Bet. It details events from his childhood to the moment where he throws his hat in the biggest possible ring.

Barack or Barry as he was known to his family was not a privileged kid. He did not have an ideal family around to raise him. His relationship with his father was far from perfect. But his mother, Ann Dunham, and his grandparents ensured Barack could get the best education they could afford. He went through Occidental college, California where he became more politically aware. He became more of an idealist in his days at Columbia University, New York. During his organising years in Chicago, he listened to people and understood what mattered to them.

As Barack entered Harvard, he bumps into Michelle Lavaughn Robinson during his summer job. The pages describe in detail, how Barack met her, first as co-workers and how it went on to become a partnership for a lifetime. As their relationship transcended into marriage, all was not well in the Obama household as Barack kept moving on from one dream to another, his canvas getting bigger everyday, Michelle had to take the brunt of managing the household. She always looked forward for a better degree of stability for the family. But it only moved away with each success of Barack.

For years now, I’d asked Michelle for fortitude and forbearance when it came to my political endeavours, and she’d given it – reluctantly but with love. And then each time I’d come back again, asking for more

Barack Obama, A Promised Land

Even from the initial days as US Senator, Barack had to face a barrage of expectations about him putting his name in the Presidential race. Ted Kennedy was one of the seasoned politician Barack turns to for advise. After a bit of Googling, I knew that Ted was someone who has seen it all. He started in politics by campaigning for his illustrious brother JFK in 1960 and went on to serve as a US Senator from Massachusetts for 47 long years. Ted tells Barack, to either seize the opportunity or to decide to live with the knowledge that you have passed the chance. Basically, a “Carpe Diem” for Barack.

Many a times we blame it on the circumstances in which we are for making the decisions we make. But we need to take responsibility for the decisions that we take. Barack expresses this when he is contemplating whether to run for President. He mentions that he does not want to take refuge in the notion of God, nor an invisible pull of the universe. He also acknowledges the burden it will place on his family. We do influence the situations we are in only to a limited extent. But the call to choose which option lies with us and us alone.

Barack does not paint himself as a saint deprived of any base emotions. He questions himself if the urge to become President was a blind ambition for power disguised as service to the nation. All of us inherently want to be first, want to be praised for our work and to be able to lead. Barack was no exception to such feelings. He even wittily remarks that if megalomania was a qualification for running for President, he seems to have that too. Just that, in the race to power and position, one should not become Machiavellian. The means are as important as the end.

I was taken aback with the level of attention is paid to selecting the right person for the right job. All throughout Part 1, we are able to notice this. In various campaigns Barack ran, from his organising days, Illinois State senate, failed attempt at the Congressional race, US Senate campaign and Presidential campaign team, each member was picked for their credentials and their track record. The level to which the politicians had to know their constituents and respond to them was amazing. It was a stark contrast to the manner in which politicking happens in our country.

To wrap it up all, I want to conclude with the conversation between Michelle and Barack before the big decision is made. She asks him why he wants to be President. Barack tells, “I know the day I raise my right hand and take the oath to be President of the United States, the world will start looking at America differently. I know kids all around this country-Black kids, Hispanic kids, kids who don’t fit in – they’ll see themselves differently, too, their horizons lifted, their possibilities expanded. And that alone, would be worth it.”

That is the audacity of hope. The freedom to dream. Make good on your bet and inspire millions to pursue their dreams into reality.

Goodbye Gadag…

by Bharath Selvan, posted in Uncategorized

Very few things can be as clichéd as civil servants writing memoirs. Nevertheless, I wanted to pen down my thoughts as I embark on what used to be my weekend commute for the one last time.

Time flew by and even before I could realise one year was over. I came from Bhatkal as a rookie officer into the vast administrative set-up of Zilla Panchayat[ZP] as Chief Executive Officer[CEO]. A little about ZP and CEO is needed for the uninitiated. ZP is the nodal agency for Panchayat Raj set up at the district level and the CEO is in charge of 29 departments working under the Zilla Panchayat. CEO’s role is filled with huge responsibility and immense scope to take up initiative across fields.

ZP has the problem of plenty. You have so many areas to choose from, so many departments where you can dip your feet and any number of villages to visit. Fund was also not a major constraint. During my tenure, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (more fondly known by its acronym NREGA), Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), School infrastructure development and Rurban mission were areas of special interest. Few of these areas, there was pressure from the state level. For others, it was up to me.

I have an inherent bias towards the goodness of NREGA through this scheme has its fair share of naysayers. Despite its long list of pitfalls and shortcomings, I believe that it does more good than bad. It has put so must developmental potential at the grassroots administrative body, i.e GP. Also, it has become such a reliable financial fallback to lakhs of rural people who depend on this scheme, especially during the summers. I sincerely believe, that if we are able to channelise it in the right direction is a boon to the rural areas.

I tried to push the GPs to take up a lot of hard infrastructure options that were available within the framework of NREGA. Apart from the usual roads and drains, we took up playgrounds, school toilets, Solid waste management centres, new GP buildings, etc. Also horticulture component of this scheme, allows farmers to take up nearly any horticulture crop at near net-zero out-of-pocket expenditure. Though, I felt this potential was curtailed by the capacity of the Horticulture department to implement and the ubiquitous partisanship shown in beneficiary selection at GP.

I have been awed many times at the ability of the government to deliver services at scale. Be it toilets under SBM, electrification under Soubhagya and the recent JJM to provide tapped water to every home. These efforts may not have been 100% effective in addressing the issue they started out to, but to a large extent, they have made significant strides. For example, anyone can question the usage percentage in SBM Toilets but no one can deny the substantial improvement from before SBM.

JJM had a herculean aim of providing access to piped water supply to every household by 2024. Gadag was uniquely placed in this conundrum as it had two huge water supply projects that covered all of rural Gadag. But household coverage was only 25% in March 2021 and few of the distribution schemes needed forest conversion. Due to intense follow up from State, we were able to reach 95% household coverage and forest conversion approval is expected shortly. In the coming days, challenges in reaching last-mile saturation and finishing touches in the execution of the works will take high priority.

In Gadag, School infrastructure development became one of my favourite areas. Though one might ask, shouldn’t improving the quality of teaching have more priority. True, but I chose the easier of the two. Gadag has around 600 government schools. We were able to provide more than 150 smart classes in the last year with three year maintenance contract. We also kick-started the construction of more than 200 school toilets. We also procured around 2500 quality desks for government schools at quite a bargain. It was possible because we did not take any shortcuts and got it purchased through an e-tender & ensured quality control from the manufacturing point.

Pink Toilet at Chikkanargund GP, Nargund Taluk. Image Courtesy: Taluk IEC Team, Nargund

Construction of school toilets for adolescent girls with a focus on menstrual hygiene under the brand of ‘Pink Toilets’ was started by my predecessor. This required convergence of NREGA, SBM and GP Funds. Along with toilet units, it had a changing room, a washbasin and an incinerator for safe disposal of sanitary napkins. I was able to take it forward by finishing 30 such units and starting another 30 units. These amenities may be taken for granted in our modern homes, but Pink Toilet caught the fancy of rural people, especially Gram panchayats. We also trained the school children, GP members and School development committee members in the usage and maintenance of the toilets.

Playground development took a new life last year. In 25 government schools, we developed Basketball courts. In a few others, we developed a mini sports complex consisting of a running track, volleyball court, kabaddi court and ko-ko field. It was nice to see GPs taking pride in these pilot initiatives taking place in their villages. We made this happen by converging NREGA, ZP/TP funds and sometimes convincing GPs to put their money. This is one of the satisfying aspects of my tenure.

National Rural Livelihood Mission(NRLM) got very little attention amongst the ruckus of all other schemes that were intensely reviewed. The sky is the limit for this program but I failed to do justice to this during my tenure. Women-led Milk Cooperative Societies were in the budding stage when I joined Gadag. It sought to give a formal position to women in what used to be their domain all along. By regular follow-up, we have formed 11 such societies. Another 11 are in the pipeline. I was also happy to know our NRLM team has managed to form the first-ever Taluk Level Women SHG Federation in the state recently.

One more memorable event during the last year was the two-day RDPR Sports Meet held in November 2021. It began as a rough idea in a random discussion with Priyanga. In our office work, we behave in a rude manner with our staff to get work done. Subordinate staff have their own frustrations. In the Government sector, discipline and obedience were forgone obligations in the rigid hierarchical setup. During those two days, sportsmanship broke down all these barriers. There were no differences between Group A officers and honorarium based workers. All were one. Even on my last day, they relished their memories of the first-ever sports meet for RDPR staff so fondly.

To sum it up, I can confidently say my time in Gadag was a nice steep learning curve from my AC Bhatkal days. I was able to appreciate the complexities of politico-administrative functioning as I had the chance to interact with all levels of elected representatives. My predecessor in Gadag, Anand sir, used to tell me that “anyone can do good work in one particular place but we are meant to make interventions at scale”. During the last year, at least in a few of the initiatives, I tried to achieve scale in implementation.

Lastly, there is no easy way to put it. The transfer was totally unexpected. I had just completed one year. I sense a kind of incompleteness as the work that I was able to start has not yet been completed. But in government service transfers and new postings is the norm and I am no exception. I’ve left Gadag with my head held high and without an iota of guilt. Most of the things I was able to do was with the constant input from my counterpart in Karwar ZP who is also my better half, Priyanga. I have done what I could do to the best of my abilities. I know for sure that there are much better experiences in-store in the near future also.

Goodbye Gadag…