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`As long as young people are joining politics, it is a very reassuring sign': Scindia
By Unregistered Visitors, Section Press Releases  Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Jyotiraditya Scindia is considered one of the brightest ministers in the UPA government. In this Idea Exchange moderated by Resident Editor Seema Chishti, he speaks of his vision for the Department of Posts, Rahul Gandhi and the Scindia family legacy Something obviously did go wrong in the MP elections. If I hold accountability as a yardstick, the first finger that I need to point is at myself. We did much better than last time. But we lost some seats by slender margins. But a victory is a victory, a defeat is a defeatSeema Chishti: You have introduced changes in the Department of Posts at a time when postal services seem passe. This is a department which I knew very little about, a department which all of us unfortunately don't care too much about because it is on the periphery of our existence. But I believe it has a value proposition that can fundamentally impact the lives of the people across the length and breadth of this country. We conceived Project Arrow in April 2008. We looked at getting our core right in terms of systems and processes. We also looked at mail delivery on time, savings bank remittances and customer services to ensure that we present a modern face to the public. While doing that, it was very important to ensure we are all accountable. How did we bring about the change? We looked at developing workshops and HR training across all levels. Whichever post offices we chose for Project Arrow, we made sure people at the top went right down to the grassroots. We also developed automated tools for measuring performance and got external agencies to do an auditing of the results. For phase one of Project Arrow, we took 50 post offices. Here, ordinary mail delivery that was at 97 per cent is up to 100 per cent today--that is mail delivered the same day. Registered mail has gone from 84 per cent up to 96 per cent, speed post from 89 per cent to 98 per cent, and money orders from 76 per cent to 96 per cent--all in five months. We also have two reporting systems: I have a website that is updated every single day at 5 p.m. across all the post offices in this phase where I get parameters for every single post office. Similarly, there is a software, Meghdoot, which has all the data plugged in and we have a data extraction tool to pull out the data from that software. So there is a collaboration between the two ways in which we counter-check the data. As far as infrastructure look and feel goes, we put up information boards, changed the stationery, gave postmen bags, etc, in addition to renovating and modernising the post office. I believe that if you want to bring about change, it has to be engendered bottom up and not top down. The last man on the last mile has to feel empowered. We did a number of things, small things like giving them an umbrella allowance once a year, a shoe allowance once a year, seeing to it that their children go to Kendriya Vidyalaya schools. Today, for the first time, 3.5 lakh gramin dak sevaks' children can go to the Kendriya Vidyalayas from the next academic session, thanks to Shri Arjun Singh. At every Project Arrow post office, you have Internet kiosks. From January 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009, we will work on 4,500 post offices and it is my fervent hope that over the next two years we would be able to change the look of the entire department. Rishi Raj: Do you still feel the need for a telegram operation when we have speed post, mobile phones and PCOs? While it important to have a profit outlook, a social obligation is important too. The telegram service is not a service that is growing tremendously but it is a service that is still used across the length and breadth of this country. Just last week, I had an MP concerned that there was an amalgamation of two telegram offices in his constituency. That meant people would have go 3 kilometres to the next telegram office. So while it is a service that is not as widely used with the emergence of alternative technologies, it is still used, especially in rural India. Source: Indian Express `As long as young people are joining politics, it is a very reassuring sign' Click On "Full Story" For "Full Interview"....
Smita Aggarwal: How does social responsibility play a role in the turnaround exercise?
Social responsibility is a given. The important thing is to have other business avenues and effective partnerships in place that can give you further income. We have signed up with Western Union for international money orders. We are signing up with State Bank of India now for selling their financial products. I think this is a department that can turn revenue positive. Rishi Raj: Your ministry was in quite a storm over spectrum prices and license allocation. We never heard from you. Will you comment now? There are two issues involved. One is the issue of the licences and the issue of spectrum. This was done pretty much as per the standing policy at that time. The second issue was of some companies raising equity and in effect diluting their stake, post receiving the spectrum to finance their rollout. Now we have put regulation in place that will disallow companies from selling their own equity. Dilution is alright to finance capex but not selling their own equity. D.K. Singh: Your campaign in Madhya Pradesh before the assembly elections saw huge crowds but these did not translate into votes. Why? The first thing that we need to do is to pull all our strengths together. I don't have the advantage of years or the experience. I have been in politics for only seven years but I think we have to strengthen the organisation and the second thing is to be on the ground fighting for people's needs on a consistent basis. D.K. Singh: But what went wrong in MP? I think something obviously did go wrong. If I hold accountability as a major yardstick, the first finger that I need to point is at myself. We did much better than last time. If you are asking me, was it up to my expectations, absolutely not. In some areas we were just plain unlucky. Some seats we lost by just 200, 400, 500 votes. But a victory is a victory, a defeat is a defeat. Somewhere along the way, we were not able to convince people of the agenda that we are putting forward both in terms of the failings of the BJP Government and in terms of what we would like to do. I think it is important that we come up with a new prescription and that we actually work on that today and for the next five years. D.K. Singh: Can we say that the Congress in Madhya Pradesh is top heavy or that it is living on past laurels? I don't think so. I think we have a wealth of leadership and talent in Madhya Pradesh. The thing is to be able to build a grassroots plan and deliver on that. D.K. Singh: Would the projection of a Chief Ministerial candidate in MP have helped in the elections? We have two different models. One is the BJP's model of projecting a chief ministerial candidate. The other is the Congress model. There are many states we have won resoundingly in the last five or six years following our model and there are states that the BJP has won. I don't think one model is better than the other. I think both have their positives. The most important thing is to identify leadership at the grassroots level and make sure everyone works with unity. We must always ensure that our interests are secondary to the party's interest. Seema Chishti: You were suddenly thrown into politics with the unfortunate death of your father. Before that, did you ever contemplate a career in politics? I actually lived two lives. In the first life, I was at Stanford Business School and we were looking at setting up a team for high-end outsourcing. We were looking to set up a network-operating centre. We were into that process when my father passed away and it became history. When I first campaigned for my father in 1984, I was 13 years old. A bond with the people and a desire to serve the people have been part of the DNA of this family and personally mine from a very young age so entering active politics was not something completely radical or new or something very alien to me, although the timing certainly was. It was not something I had contemplated at the time but it happened. Seema Chishti: Would you have considered the BJP as an option? My family traditionally, historically has been a very, very secular family. It is a family that has been wedded to secular principles for hundreds of years and there's no way my father or I would be able to think of involvement with any other party than the Congress. Subhomoy Bhattacharjee: You said when you meet at family dinners you try to set aside political differences. Does that suggest the difference between the Congress and the BJP are only differences in perspective? If you look at the economic agendas, there is a tremendous difference in the way the BJP charted their way during their tenure and the way we have. Our path has been a twin path--one of economic growth for the whole country, and one of ensuring that our primary responsibility is to the social sector and uplifting the downtrodden. I can't say that--with the same degree of confidence--of the BJP. The other fundamental difference which I have elucidated is one of secularism. Coomi Kapoor: You are one of the young politicians who has actually got a ministerial position. How much is that due to the political family background? At the end of the day, whatever advantage you may have had because you come from a particular family probably helps you the first time. The second time, it is your performance, your sense of or feeling of passion that results in either victory or defeat. Suanshu Khurana: Is the swearing-in of Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir a precursor to similar developments nationwide? Omar Abdullah's elevation is a great sign for J&K and also for the next generation. I think he has tremendous qualities that will hold him and the people of the region in good stead. It is about a generational shift and such generational shifts come every 20-25 years. Let's not forget that this is not the first time this has happened in this country. It happened in 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister at the age of 40 and brought in a whole group of younger people with him. Maryam schumacher: Your opening statement sounded like you were talking about the ministry as an enterprise. Do you see yourself as a politician or as an entrepreneur? Those two things are not mutually exclusive. I think what's most important is that you see yourself as a public servant, to be able to provide the maximum services to the people of your constituency or your region or your ministry as you possibly can and bring about innovative ways of doing that. Shravan Sen: Don't you think it is time to project more young people at every level especially since the urban voters are looking for more youth? You'd be amazed that the percentage of younger people getting elected is quite high. I think you are seeing the demographics change. For me, it is not a question of sheer numbers. As long as the rate of change is on an upward sloping graph, as long as more and more young people are joining the political mainstream, that is a very reassuring sign. D.K. Singh: What do you think about Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate? I think the vision that he has is a tremendous vision. His dedication, commitment and most importantly, his resoluteness of purpose and his execution capability are very much what this country needs. How many political leaders does a country have who actually can talk straight from the heart, who can actually go from village to village and actually spend nights in poor peoples' houses? The fact that he is doing it on his own and the fact that he actually feels from his heart are things that I personally get very inspired by. Suman K Jha: Lots of people feel that Jyotiraditya Scindia is prime ministerial material. When you talk about innovative practices or you want to strengthen the organisation it is got to be done by unconventional methods. The very fact that Rahul Gandhiji came up with the idea of a talent hunt brought people into the mainstream, completely circumventing the middle-rung leaders. It's something extremely innovative I believe that it will bring about change within the Congress Party. Based on Rahulji's initiative and direction, we are not only talking about internal democracy but actually executing it. Smita Aggarwal: Is it a disadvantage to be young in Indian politics? There is something to be said for experience. My father spent 30 years in politics from 1971 to 2001. This is not something that you acquire from a snap of your fingers. I, at least, value experience. It is important in life to make mistakes at a lower level before you go and make mistakes at a much higher level which will have a much more detrimental impact across greater constituencies--in terms of people. I think it is very important to be actually mentored through the process. So it is important to have a good mix of youth and experience. The youth have the ability to take calculated and uncalculated risks and sometimes you need to take uncalculated risks.
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