Apropos Rahul Jacob's column "The private public sector" (Country Code, November 16), organisations in India, whether public or private sector, or multinational corporations are not known for good customer service. Whether you go to private malls, public-sector hotels or foreign banks, an unwelcoming raised eyebrow greets you rather than a smile. A major reason for such apathy is that customers are not yet keen to exercise their rights and choices (of supplier) emphatically. The Consumer Protection Act has failed to energise them because of rigid procedural requirements and the subsequent delays in getting justice.A prime source of customer satisfaction is the speed and care with which complaints are dealt with. However, this responsibility is outsourced to people with no training and aptitude for the work. So, when you find your way to a human voice after answering questions on toll-free numbers, a sympathetic hearing or prompt service is not guaranteed.Mahatma Gandhi had equated a cu

Letters: Customer is God?

Business Standard

Business Standard  looks at the assets of the Congress' Jaivardhan Singh, son of the party's  general-secretary, Digvijaya Singh

Jaivardhan Singh: Asset watch

The structural changes in India's rural workforce

Missing women

Uttar Pradesh govt has let politics take over sugar pricing

The price of no reform

Amar Singh may have dropped off the political scene unsung but at least some people in Uttar Pradesh wish he were back: the state's business community. Business stalwarts in Lucknow are deeply disappointed with the self-proclaimed techno-savvy Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, alleging that none of the pre-poll promises made to industry has materialised. Nor is the chief minister easily accessible. A Lucknow-based industrialist and office bearer of a prominent industry body compared the current Samajwadi Party with the previous one headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav. He said, Amar Singh, then party general secretary, acted as the interface between industry and the erstwhile regime so that industry's voice was "heard at the highest level".

UP Inc misses Amar Singh

Sachin Tendulkar, who retired recently, has become something of a benchmark for all things in cricket-mad India. Or so it appeared at a recent KPMG conference. Introducing Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the compere excitedly described him as "the Sachin Tendulkar of the Indian economy". It was unclear, though, whether he was referring to Ahluwalia's longevity in the economic policymaking establishment or his achievements within it.

Montek Singh Tendulkar?

Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily certainly has a politician's eye for occasion, as his publicised use of public transport once a week has shown. This proclivity was amply demonstrated again at the KPMG meet at which he dramatically declared that he was launching a "second independence movement". The objective of this one being, he went on to explain, to secure the country's energy security by reducing oil and gas imports.

Moily's independence movement

This refers to the report "Banks wrote off Rs 1 lakh crore in 13 years: Chakrabarty"(November 19). It is heartening to find that a debate on who favours whom has started at the highest level. This is good for the health of the economy. The Indian economy has enough resources to restore its health. Revelations like the ones made by Reserve Bank of India deputy governor about bank write-offs in favour of big borrowers and annual waiver of taxes payable by corporations while tabling Budget estimates, will give a rough picture of how the rich are becoming richer. The government should compile this information and create an inventory of the estimated domestic stock of gold and other precious tradable resources.M G Warrier  MumbaiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Rich lists

Student's corner

The report "India eyeing economic corridor with Mekong" (November 18) is encouraging since it comes after the prime minister's emphasis on "connectivity" between the two countries. India shares 1,600 km of its border with Myanmar. With Bangladesh's involvement, this plan could vastly improve the economies of the nations in the region. But the fact that the Mekong is an over-dammed river that resulted in halving the unique reverse flow of the Cambodian river Tonle Sap should also be kept in mind. China has already strengthened its road and rail network with south east nations. We are late starters and have to move faster. The first step requires an enhanced level of political vision and leadership from the ministers concerned, a team of civil servants, and participation from the private sector. Bangkok is planning a link with the Dawei port in Myanmar. India also needs to show interest in the development of the Sittwe port. The recently established Cabinet committee on infrastructure an

Letters: Look south-east

This refers to Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng's article "Behind China's Third Plenum" (November 16). The Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has perhaps come at the right time to. A command economy such as China, predicated on the power of the proletariat, did reach higher base growth sooner than normal democratic regimes. But it needs the contribution of individual entrepreneurship to achieve a sustained levels of progress from now on. And that comes with a price - greater personal freedom. The USSR, on a similar path earlier, could not act in time, and party oligarchs under the hubris of totalitarian power not only ruined the economy but dismembered the vast republic. China clearly, is keen to learn from history. It could manage to keep the nation together by veering away from blind growth. But political and economic inclusiveness does not come easy.R Narayanan  GhaziabadLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru

Letters: Democracy and growth

What toll plaza chaos reveals about India

No change in sight

What does it mean?|A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media websiteHow was it selected?|Selected on Tuesday by Oxford Dictionaries' editors, based on a 17,000% rise in its usage in the past 12 months

Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year 2013- Selfie

With the BJP releasing its manifesto for the Rajasthan Assembly polls on Wednesday, Business Standard looks at the assets of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje

Vasundhara Raje: Asset assessment

Rupee depreciation helping the business cycle bottom out

Automatic stabiliser

Asked whether he felt the dearth of women officers, a senior official in the Central Bureau of Investigation retorted that it was not just women, even men hesitated to join the investigative agency these days. That's because, he said, there are so many pulls and pressures and transfers almost every year for certain officers that the organisation had become an unattractive job proposition for anyone, regardless of gender.

Gender-neutral gap

On Monday N K Singh, a powerful former bureaucrat and current Rajya Sabha member, may have discovered what it is like to be powerless - literally. Asked his views on the Indian economy at a panel discussion, the former member of the nineties reform "dream team" found himself facing a power outage halfway through his reply. The same thing happened a little later in the discussion when he was asked what reforms the country needed to accelerate growth. More amused than annoyed, he suggested that this was not an auspicious day for him. Ironically, Singh once chaired the national task force on power sector investment and reforms.

Power cuts

When not taking a dig at the Congress party, the Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi can be found looking for every opportunity to hint at what to expect in the upcoming general elections. Addressing a group of information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services professionals recently, Modi said, "You can eradicate corruption from the country. If you don't believe me wait till next June." After waiting long enough for the applause to subside, he added dryly, "Any project execution takes at least six months, as you know."

Victory project

This refers to the report "RBI asks banks to increase bad loan provisions" (November 17). When faced with a similar situation the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had appointed, in July 1974, a study group to frame guidelines on bank credit (known as the Tandon committee). The group, inter alia, examined whether norms could be evolved for the debt-equity ratio to ensure minimal dependence on bank finance. And as a result of its deliberations, the group evolved the concept of maximum permissible bank finance (MPBF) for each individual borrower and recommended that bank lending should not, in any case, exceed MPBF. In broader terms, it meant that not less than 25 per cent of the funds required to finance working capital of a borrower should come out of "long-term sources", which meant equity or quasi-equity. To ensure adherence to this requirement in the case of large borrowers, both in public and private sector (the definition of "large" was revised from time to time), the RBI had set up the

Letters: RBI - Lessons from the past?

In his column "Courts should revise penalty upward, compound it" (Frankly Speaking, November 18) Harsh Roongta has made the valuable point that all the parties who have to pay compensation as a result of court cases deliberately delay the judgments. This is because the monetary awards by courts carry simple interest and delays in the judgment reduces the value of the award. The difference between the simple and compound interest on the sum payable calculated from the day of filing of the case is enormous. Like most of our laws this is an anomaly that was inherited from the days of the British Raj. This law was revised in the UK over 20 years back, but vested interests in India have managed to prevent the required change in the Civil Procedure Code.If the "at-fault" party is made to pay compound interest, then most of the deliberate delays in our courts could disappear overnight.Alok Sarkar  KolkataLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 B

Letters: Compounded solution

It is true that the Congress' dirty tricks department has got into the act. The alleged "snooping" tape was with the Central Bureau of Investigation for four years and has been released at the height of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's campaign. The allegation, even if proved true, amounts to snooping - a minor political crime. This is nothing in comparison to the heinous crimes committed by the Congress - the promulgation of Emergency, pogrom against the Sikhs and now gagging free speech by restricting opinion polls and social media. It has failed to discover any chinks in Modi's armour. The BJP should not spend time clarifying such allegations the authenticity of which even Cobrapost has not vouched for.Chandan Parhi  BhubaneswarLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and te

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