The Brave Pedestrian

New Delhi, 26 th November, 2016: RBI was causing public unrest outside bank branches by publicly announcing measures before delivering the relevant notifications, guidelines and conditions to bank branches, said the Harvinder Singh, General Secretary of All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC), In an exclusive interview with Varun Krishna , Mr Singh criticized the Reserve Bank  specifically for a premature announcement that those with weddings in the family could withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh cash. Bank branches could not comply, as they were yet to receive the Reserve Bank's notification, and the public vented its anger and frustration on the bank officers, the trade union leader pointed out. RBI should send notifications to banks before making public announcements: AIBOC   "Law and order outside the bank branches is to be looked after by us (officers)," said Harvinder Singh. "One of two policemen cannot control the mob. When people come inside, there ar...

New Delhi, 26th November, 2016: "As a trade union of officers' cadre which is running the banking industry, I have certain issues regarding implementation," said Harvinder Singh, General Secretary of All India Bank Officers' Confederation. "The problems of our officers, common man and our customers should have been taken more seriously, because we the officers are working at the ground level. We know how the functioning of the branches can be improved. We know how our customers are suffering, and what is the cost of the demonetization process. Click here to listen to the recorded interview. "All our officers working in all the branches and offices are involved only in this process. The entire banking industry is paralyzed. Everybody is doing only demonetization work. The business of banking is totally affected. We are not able to deal with the normal business. Our officers are facing lots of problems on the personal and social front, being forced to wor...

21 April 2016, Mumbai: With the backdrop of the Union Labour Ministry's tripartite consultations reported to be happening today to “assess the impact of the mandated larger pictorial warnings covering 85% of packaging space on the livelihood of 1.50 crore bidi workers”, nine bidi smokers who suffered from cancer, and their bereaved relatives, today wrote a letter to Mr Virjesh Upadhyay, Secretary of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, which claims to be the bidi workers' trade union. Download a copy of the open letter on behalf of bidi victims . (Incidentally, bidi-rollers are not the enemy of bidi smokers and their   families, although it is in the name of bidi-rollers that Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is trying to help the bidi industry evade the 85% pictorial warnings. Bidi-rollers are themselves a downtrodden and exploited lot -- largely dirt-poor child labourers, especially girls, often pushed into debt by the bidi industry contractors, and they have no genuine spokesmen. Bidi...

When a doctor (whether family doctor / general physician, consultant or surgeon) prescribes tests – pathology, radiology, X-rays, MRIs etc. – the lab doing those tests gives commissions. How much? That depends your city and your neighbourhood. (For instance, In South and Central Mumbai — 40%; in suburbs north of Bandra — a whopping 60 per cent). Doctors earn a lot more in this way than by way of consulting fees that you pay them. When your friendly GP refers you to a speciali st or surgeon, it's not necessarily because your ailment calls for it. It may simply be because he gets 30-40% from the first-time consulting fee that you pay the specialist -- which is typically higher than the usual fee. If the GP or consultant recommends hospitalization, he will receive kickback from the private nursing home as a percentage of all charges including ICU, bed, nursing care, surgery etc. Shocked? Don't be. Private medical practice, and indeed, all private sector is full of mal...

The doctor-patient relationship is based on information-asymmetry. It is generally believed that the doctor KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR BODY, whereas you know nothing. That is blind faith, perpetrated by the medical profession, which is a well-knit trade union. You are expected to be completely passive and trusting while the doctor or surgeon makes decisions for your body -- even when he makes irreversible decisions such as surgery. You are expected to trust that each and eve ry doctor or surgeon you meet will ACT IN YOUR BEST INTEREST. That is a straight-faced lie. Please be careful while making decisions about ELECTIVE SURGERIES, such as removal of your uterus. Please don't be bullied by your doctor into unnecessary hospitalization and operations "in order to avoid complications later on". Many of the scary worst-case scenarios predicted by surgeons are unlikely; such predictions are designed to make you (or your near-and-dear ones) go willingly into the operat...

Rather than functioning as a legitimate organ of governance with healthy checks and balances, the judiciary is functioning as an unchecked power. Its various constituents have clumped together, and are together exercising absolute, uncontrolled power over the nation. This is unhealthy and must not be allowed to continue. About 19,000 judges are holding 127 crore Indians hostage to their arbitrary and often unlawful decisions, for which they cannot be held accountable. Over 3  lakh undertrials languish in judicial custody while the courts shut down for all sorts of holidays and lengthy vacations. Where is the justice? Less than one century back, our forefathers staged a prolonged struggle for independence from British Rule. There have been numerous struggles and movements after Independence also, against all sorts of tyranny and oppression. So, it may be reasonable to believe that people from different walks of life can come together again to break the judiciary's strangleh...