GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO PUBLICISE DATA TO IMPROVE CITIES

On a recent visit to a municipal school, I found that the most common complaint of all teachers is that they are so busy writing reports that they hardly have time to focus on their real job –teaching! This is common to each and every sector and employees are busy compiling reports. This made me think “what is the government going to do with so much data”?

This gave me an idea – why doesn't the government computerise all data and release the required information online? In fact the big cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco and others are already doing it with great results.

A few examples of this are-

a.     Data on hygiene rating for restaurants which the food inspectors inspect will help citizens to choose where to eat and automatically all restaurants will “clean up their acts”.

b.     Response time of emergency services like police, ambulance and fire brigade at different locations so people know which city is better to live in. 

c.     Roads on which maximum accidents occur will give an idea to people of roads to avoid or drive safely.

d.     Data of accidents which had fatalities and didn't have safety compliance like helmet or seat belt will make people follow rules more strictly.

e.     Taxes collected by each area so people know that they are getting benefited only upto the tax collected in their area.

f.     Under Shops and Establishments Act there are a lot of businesses registered area wise and this should be made online. It will be visited more than yellow pages. Automatically there will be compliance to such acts.

g.     Another obvious thing to include would be the areawise crime against women and children. This would enable women to choose the safest areas to live in.

h.     With consumerism at its zenith, people have more than one car now which has made parking quite impossible in many city areas. A data of parking available per square feet of constructed space in different areas would help us in our decision to buy a house or an office. Also a data on the collection from pay and park would let us know which parking slots are most valuable.

i.     A study of the profitable routes of buses on BRTS and AMTS would help us know about the routes that are expected to be vacant for a pleasant ride to office or home.

j.     A data released on the performance of schools, both public and private, will increase the competition and urge schools to improve their performance.

Such data and others on similar lines would help citizens take right decisions about the city or area they wish to live in. This would also make other cities take care of their weak areas and bring in reforms.  

An example of data on US cities that the government releases from time to time in a bid to further improvement is illustrated in this figure.

How Can A Depreciated Rupee Change The Culture Of The Country?

The recent depreciation of the Indian Rupee will remain so for some time now. This devaluation will definitely have overwhelming effects on the culture of our country, some obvious and some not so evident. The expected outcome is:

a. There will be a boost in local tourism as the globe-trotting Indians (mostly Gujjus) will travel domestic due to the burgeoning expenses incurred on foreign travel now. Also foreigners will visit India more than before as it will be more affordable for them. 

b. There will be an increase in the number of unemployed youth as college education will not be able to cater to so many aspirants who have to give up their dream of foreign education due to the higher cost and opt for Indian education.

c. The substantial step that our country can take to stem the fall of the rupee is to increase the limits of the FDI. This would lead to an increase in foreign influence. 

d. I wouldn’t say that we will become more westernised, but definitely there will be the influence of any society that has loads of foreign exchange. These countries would most likely be middle-eastern ones due to oil production or Chinese for their manufacturing potential or US due to its patents. 

e. I can predict that there will be a confluence of cultures of all these foreign countries and they will try to replicate the ‘best practices’ of their country in India. 

f. One classic example of this culture change is reflected in the way in which the fast food giants like McDonalds, Dominos, Coke and Pepsi have changed the total Indian attitude to food and beverage. Fast food and quick service have become a rage with young India. Subway alone has 376 stores in 73 cities in India. No Indian company can claim such pan India presence.  

g. Indian Railways is among one of the major contributions of the British Raj. We can expect similar foreign influx to bring in benefits for our country. 

h. One more environment friendly effort, albeit forced, will be using less fuel due to the increasing price. We can expect more people to use car pools and public transport which will be a good turn for saving our country’s resources.  

i. BPO jobs will be back in fashion. It has lost its lustre in the last 5 years due to a strong domestic economy. Collegians would take pride in earning valuable foreign exchange for India. 

j. Imported cars will be prohibitive not only to own but also to maintain. So people who have already bought a high end imported car will selectively use them and may be sell them off.