There is ‘hope’ and then there is ‘anxiety’. Hope, that corruption will end in India, hope for the youth to see their elected leaders try and cleanse the rot set in the system that runs the nation. And, ‘anxiety’, about how the newly elected leaders go about doing it. Yes, I am referring to the recently formed government of the ‘common man’ in Delhi.
The phenomenal success of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stems on the oppression felt by every common man and his burning desire to get rid of the frustration. Till now it was believed that huge amounts of wealth is needed to win elections, however the myth was broken last month, when the perceived under dogs came out on the top, purely riding on a promise of delivering good governance to the masses. This is a positive trend, especially of the youth in voting for leaders who promise transparency and speedy delivery of public services.
Last month, I visited the IBEX exhibition and conference on banking technologies, including security, in Mumbai. On the face of it, the show had looked promising, but I was disappointed to see that slick marketing had prevailed upon sound reasoning. The security systems industry had turned up in decent numbers to exhibit at the show. Many felt let down as the visitor footfall was not to their expectations. It’s not just this show, but as I have said in the past, quality visitors are failing to visit trade shows. This trend needs to be analysed in greater detail by exposition organisers.
The biggest news of last month was the unopposed election of my senior and dear friend RK Sinha, with whom I have been closely associated for almost 25 years to the Upper House of the Indian Parliament.
Mr. Sinha, who is much admired in the private security industry in India and beyond, is a first generation entrepreneur who started Security & Intelligence Services (India) in 1974 with two employees from a rented accommodation. The company currently has an annual turnover of over Rs. 3000 crore and manpower of over 78,000 across the country! Indeed, a unique achievement!
SECURITY TODAY, congratulates him for his achievement and is confident that, with him in Parliament, the various issues that have bothered the industry will get a voice inside Parliament.
In this issue we question the responsibility and accountability of the nation’s premier disaster management body, the NDMA. This high powered body is chaired by the Prime Minister of India and was formed with the objective of building a safer and disaster resilient India by developing a holistic, pro-active and technology-driven strategy for disaster management through collective efforts of all Government Agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations. While it performed well in in evacuating nearly half a million people to safety in Odisha and parts of Andhra Pradesh, it failed miserably in Uttarakhand. The lessons learnt are examined in this issue.
Till we meet next month, Cheers & Happy Reading,
G B Singh
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