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Total Quality Management Cell
Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of
Administration, Mussoorie - 248 179
Uttarakhand (INDIA)
Tel. : +91 135 2632236, 2632489, 2632405
tqmcell@lbsnaa.ernet.in
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GOOD GOVERNANCE
QUALITY
TRAINING
TheAcademy
The Newsletter of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration
www.lbsnaa.ernet.in
Please send address changes to the above.
The editor does not maintain the database.
Editor
Dr. N. K. Kumaresan Raja
nkkumaresanraja@lbsnaa.ernet.in
The Academy Team
Managing Editor
Dr. S.H. Khan
shkhan@lbsnaa.ernet.in
Assistant Editor
Ms. V. Patnaik Mohanty
vpatnaik@lbsnaa.ernet.in
'The Academy' can be a platform for presenting the creative thinking of the readers as well. Articles and write-ups could be sent to the
Editor for consideration. Email: feelfree2send@gmail.com.
Oct.-Nov. 2008 Vol.1 Issue 2 Message from the Joint Director
News Sparks ...................................................... 2
Visitors to the Academy.................................... 2
Tit Bits ................................................................. 2
Faculty News ..................................................... 3
Highlights of Training Programmes............... 4
jk"VªHkk"kk vuqHkkx ................................................... 4
Research Centres in Action ..............................4
Seminars/Symposium.......................................6
Publications ...............................................................6
Retreat for the 1958 batch - (Sing me a song
of the lad that's gone) ....................................... 7
An Agenda for better Governance- What
needs to be done? .............................................. 7
Monkey Business ...............................................8
National Health Highway ............................... 10
It is Mean to ignore the Median ...................... 11
Contacts ................................................ Back Page
The Academy Team............................. Back Page
Vision of LBSNAA
"We seek to promote good governance
by providing quality training towards
building a professional and responsive
civil service in a caring, ethical and
transparent framework."
The first issue of “The Academy” was brought out by us for
the period July to September. As a start up, we are taking out
an issue every two months. However, since there is a lot
happening, and subject to a favourable response from readers
and contributors, we could make it a monthly publication.
The aim of the newsletter is to reach the alumni of the
academy and thus develop into a platform, where the alumni
could share their experiences and thoughts and also get news
of their colleagues and of the academy. We also look forward
to contributions from faculty members who are and have
been associated with the academy.
The structure of the newsletter is flexible. We have begun by
bringing out a few pages of news about the academy,
followed by short contributions. In the initial issues, the
contributions have come from the faculty. However, we hope
that as the readership grows, we would begin getting
contributions from the alumni.
We would also like to reiterate that the academy has
launched a website for the alumni. You could reach it at
lbsalumni.gov.in. and register yourself.
Next year we would be celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the
academy. We are planning to publish a volume of
reminiscences. We hope to have about twenty articles per
decade at an average of two articles per batch. The length of
the volume is visualized at about 200 pages. We request you
to contribute pieces of about five hundred words along with
photographs and copies of other documents, pertaining to
your stay at the academy. Please also inform your friends and
colleagues about this, since the newsletter is presently having
a limited reach. The material for publication may be sent to
my colleague Shri Ashish Vachhani, Deputy Director at the
academy. His email id is ashishvachhani@lbsnaa.ernet.in .
Looking forward to your support in developing this
newsletter.
Padamvir Singh
Joint Director,LBSNAA
padamvirsingh@lbsnaa.ernet.in

2 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008
3 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008
News Sparks
An alumnus gets often nostalgic when he/she
think of the three main outside class room events
during their foundation course. India Day, Fete
and Trek are the three out door activities where
group consciousness, cohesiveness and 'espirt de
corpse' get demonstrably displayed. The Officer
Trainees of 82nd Foundation Course celebrated
'India Day' on 18th October, 'Fete' on the 25th
October. The entire batch in various sub-teams
accompanied by the faculty members were on
trek from 27th September to 5th October, 2008.
International Film Festival :
Under of aegis of “Film Society, monopolized by
a team of zealous Officer Trainees an
International Film Festival was staged with
spectacular creations of Doyens like Satyajit Ray,
Akira Kurosewa, Florian Henckel von
Donnersmarck, Vittorio De Sica and Frank
Kapara on the 13th and 14th of November, 2008
Down the Pipeline : The Academy is
contemplating to subscribe JSTOR to further
equip the state of art Library - Gandhi Smriti
Library.
A MoU between the Academy and Austin
University Texas, USA is to get operationalised in
due course on training and exchange of faculties.
Visitors of Eminence
The Academy had eminent visitors from Legislature,
Executive and Judiciary- truly making the Academy
as the point of convergence of all the three organs of
Government towards augmenting real time inputs
on Good Governance.
Gubernatorial Authority
His Excellency Shri B.L.Joshi , the Governor of
Uttarakhand graced the valedictory ceremony of the
105th Induction Training Programme designed for
Officers from various state governments being
promoted to IAS.
Legislators
Shri. Yashwant Sinha, MP (Rajya Sabha)
Shri Sachin Pilot , M.P.
Sri.Manvendra Singh, M.P.
These Legislators were amidst us as “Resource
Persons” in the flagship training programmes of the
Academy.
Hon'ble Justice ,Delhi High Court
Hon'ble Justice Madan B Lokur, Delhi High Court
graced the 13th module on “Ethical Issues on Today's
Administration” by his august presence.
Tit Bits
Enthused amalgamation of cultures: India Day
This is a red letter day for all Officer Trainees where
they portray the various dimensions of the diverse
culture of the 'Incredible India' with their indigenous
music, dance, folklore and cuisine. This is the day of
ordination of the Officer Trainees into India's
Oneness. The Academy campus was lit up with multi
cultural flavor that one of the Officer Trainees
remarked “I wish I take birth in all the states if I have
rebirths!"
Trek - Reinventing adventurism
This is the event when the expeditions and
adventurism glimpsed by the Officer Trainees in
Discovery and National Geography Channels while
enjoying the comforts of snacks and coziness in their
respective homes becomes a reality to them. To be
frank Reality Bites! Imagine the young team of
Officers willfully taking an inroad to the
bewilderness of Garwal Himalayas in search of sheer
adventure and spirit, thoroughly disconnected from
the main land for days together! No kitchen, no
western toilets, no electricity, no guest houses and no
cell phones (the 207th Bone of most of us). Sky is their
roof and all luxuriant flora and fauna with chirping
himalayan birds become their kith and kins. After
enduring the initial pains ,the reminiscence of the
pseudo and suicidal living style, the trekkers begin to
unite in the oneness of “Mother Nature” and into a
sort of transcendental consciousness and return to the
Academy, spiritually electrified and refurbished.
Fun and Frolic of 'Fete'
The Academy as its cause for social drive, anchoring
upon the Officer Trainees of the Foundation Course
stages 'Fete' every year.
When the Officer Trainees become suddenly aware
of the versatility and start a subtle praise mercilessly
on the face of the Faculty members, you can
understand that Fete is fast approaching and you are
being transformed as a potential prey for their moral
pressure which will cost you not less than One
thousand Rupees in exchange of the 'Fete Day
Coupons'. The coupons are the currency of the 'Fete
Day' and the value of Rupee is just a plain piece of
paper down the “Happy Valley where the Fete is
held.
As the day progresses, inflation gets to the sharp rise,
with draining of 'Fete Coupons', as a direct impact of
one's irresistible temptation to exchange with the
tokens of the myriad stalls featuring games and
mouth watering food stuffs. Catalyzed by the
euphoria, one can consciously see the hijack of Indian
Rupees from his/her purse in exchange to 'Fete
Coupons', which testifies the efforts put by the
Officer Trainees in attracting the visitors!
The entire Mussoorie converges to the 'Fete' and the
day progresses with increased fun and frolic. The
sovereignty of faculty gets diminished to nil, as the
Officer Trainees become the regulators of market
forces in the Fete!
Thus at the end of the day as the Officer Trainees
convert fun and frolic of population of Mussoorie,
into Indian Rupees, the huge sum so accrued was
handed over for Social Cause!
Academy Community acquiring Immunity!
To protect the Academy family from communicable
infections the Academy Dispensary vaccinated the
officer trainees, faculty and employees against
typhoid, hepatitis and influenza. The exercise is
acquiring a permanent feature to contain the canvas
of potential infections.
Book Exhibition
Gandhi Smriti Library organized a book exhibition
from 21st to 23rd Sept, 2008 joined by twenty six
publishers of national repute. The Academy family
including the Officer Trainees, zealously pondered
the array of books displayed and recommended
some 1800 books for the library. This uniqueness of
the Academy in its collection of books for the library
has left every library racks with lip smacking tasty
books for hungry minds!
Robustness in Mind and Body
Besides edifying the Officer Trainees to face the
rigors of their challenging careers with a strong
intellect, the academy takes adequate care for their
physical fitness as well. This includes "Physical
Training Sessions", every dawn whether it rains or
snows. The 'Sports Complex' located in Happy
Valley housing a 'state of art' multi gym, tennis
courts, equestrian tracks and indoor games facilities
help Officer Trainees to burn their calories and prune
themselves.
Faculty News
Ms. Arti Ahuja, IAS(Orissa:1991) Deputy Director
(Sr.) Joined the Academy on 13.4.2001. Her
tenure completed and she got relieved on
12.10.2008. Often termed as the 'Indian
Bureaucracy's version of Jenny and Marx , she
together with Shri. Manoj Ahuja IAS (Orissa:
1991), the 'Harvard Economists', contributed the
highest degree of professionalism and academic
standards to the Academy during their tenures.
Ms. Ranjana Chopra, IAS (Orissa: 1994) Deputy
Director, has been elevated as Deputy Director
( Sr.) with effect from 24.10.2008.
Capacity Building of Faculty
Shri. Ashish Vachhani, IAS (TN:1997.) Deputy
Director underwent a training programme
conducted by NICTU on “Video Edition” in the
month of October, 2008
Punch Line
Hon'ble Shri Yashwant Sinha MP, Rajya Sabha
had an enjoyable and lively interaction with the
youthful Officer Trainees of 82nd Foundation
Course. While responding to a tricky question
whether Civil Servants can aspire to join politics,
his reaction was sharp “Come to Politics and do
Politics while in Politics but never do politics
while you are in Administration”!

4 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008 5 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008
Highlights of Training
Programmes
82nd Foundation Course, The Officer
trainees were put to first hand real time
exposure to rural India through “Village Visit
Programme”, from 1st to 9th November,
2008. They stayed in the heart of villages and
socialized with the local populace of select
villages in AP, Gujarat, MP, Orissa, Rajasthan
and UP. These fresh trainees returned after
the visit as potentially charged Samurais on
their sensitization to rural realities.
105th Induction Course for IAS Officers,
Forty Officers from 10 states belonging to
State Civil Services, promoted to IAS were
housed in Indira Bhawan Campus and
imparted professional training on Modern
Management, Project Appraisal,
Contemporary Issues in Indian Politics and
Administration. They cherished the “Bharat
Dharshan”, a sought after component of the
training which enabled them to expand their
horizons of their understandings of cultured
dimension and varied governance of the
incredible India.
Retreat of 1958 Batch IAS Officers, Golden
Jubilee Retreat for 1958 batch of IAS Officers
numbering to twenty one, was organized for
two days on 22nd and 23rd of September,
2008.
13th 'training programme' on “Ethical Issues
in today's Administration”, The one week
training module was held from 25th to 29th
August 2008, with twenty four participants
from IAS representing fourteen states. The
course faced a paradigm shift in pedagogical
inputs, with panel discussions, case studies
,experience sharing presentations clubbed
with interaction with media personnel and
politicians on ethics, doing away with the
ceremonial sermonizing!
One mind blowing suggestion that arose at
the end of course evaluation from the side of
the participants is, that the spouses of officers
must be permitted to attend the course for
effective sensitization on ethics!
jktHkk"kk vuqHkkx
vdkneh esa fganh i[kokM+k] 2008 dk vk;kstu
& fjiksVZ &
yky cgknqj ’kkL=h jk"V“h; iz’kklu vdkneh] elwjh esa fnukd 01
flracj ls 14 flracj] 2008 rd fganh i[kokM+s dk vk;kstu fd;k
x;kA bl miy{; esa] vdkneh LVkQ ,oa vdkneh ls lac)
bdkb;ksa ds LVkQ ds fy, fganhrj Hkkf"k;ksa gsrq fganh Hkk"kk dh
tkudkjh] dk;kZy; ls lacaf/kr lkekU; tkudkjh …lewg ^?k*‰]
jktHkk"kk uhfr ls lacaf/kr lkekU; Kku] fganh Jqrys[k] fganh fuca/k
ys[ku rFkk fganh dkO; jpuk izfr;ksfxrk,a vk;ksftr dh xbZaA
fganh i[kokM+s ds nkSjku vk;ksftr fofHkUu izfr;ksfxrkvksa ds fotsrk
izfrHkkfx;ksa dks fnukad 16 flracj] 2008 dks vk;ksftr iqjLdkj
forj.k lekjksg esa iqjLd‘r fd;k x;kA bl lekjksg ds eq[;
vfrfFk vdkneh ds la;qDr funs’kd] Jh in~eohj flag Fks rFkk
dk;Z e dh v/;{krk jktHkk"kk izHkkjh] Jh nq";ar ufj;kyk]
mifuns’kd ofj"B us dhA
bl lekjksg esa] fofHkUu izfr;ksfxrkvksa ds fotsrk izfrHkkfx;ksa ds
lkFk gh] okf"kZd fVIi.k rFkk elkSnk ys[ku izksRlkgu ;kstuk&
2007&08 ds izfrHkkfx;ksa dks Hkh iqjLd‘r fd;k x;kA bl rjg] bl
lekjksg esa dqy 31 izfrHkkfx;ksa dks] la;qDr funs’kd egksn; us
iz’kfLr i= rFkk 11]300@&#i, ds udn iqjLdkj iznku fd,A
dk;Z e dk lapkyu jktHkk"kk vuqHkkx ds lgk;d funs’kd …jk-Hkk-‰
Jh uanu flag nqXrky rFkk lg;ksx Jh vkseizdk’k f}osnh] d-
vuqoknd us fd;kA
la;qDr funs’kd egksn; us vius lacks/ku esa vdkneh esa fganh ds
iz;ksx ij larks"k O;Dr fd;k rFkk vdkneh esa dk;Zjr LVkQ dh
fganh Hkk"kk dh l‘tu’khyrk dks c

6 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008 7 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008
of Women and Child, Orissa, to assess the state
government's “Mahila Shishu Desk” initiative. The
main aim of the study is to highlight the lessons
learnt from the ongoing activities and design a
roadmap for continuous improvement to
institutionalize the best practices.
Seminars/ Symposium
A National Level Conference on
'Mainstreaming Gender Issues' was organized
by the National Centre for Gender Training
and Research on 13th to 15th November, 2008
The National Institute of Administrative
Research ( NIAR) at the benediction and
benefaction of the 'Thirteenth Finance
Commission' organized a National Level
Workshop on “Development of Indicators of
Governance” at Indian International Centre,
New Delhi on 14th November, 2008.
VIII Central Training Institute's Conference,
The VIII conference hosted in Academy on
16th October,2008 was in continuum to the
previous conferences held in succession at
various Central Training Institutes.
Networking and sharing training resources
amongst the Central Training Institutes was
the pivotal theme of the conference. The
deliberations triggered by collective wisdom
resulted in quite a few novel
recommendations, to name a few, the
volunteership offered by Foreign Service
Institute New Delhi to facilitate international
training programmes for officers of varied civil
services, creation of a Consortium of CTIs ,
holding a thematic training module at the
Academy for the different batches of yester
years foundation courses that comprise of the
conglomeration of officers from all the civil
services.
Faculty Publications
An article on “NICTU An ICT Training Hub for
Civil Servants” was published in Informatics An e-
governance bulletin from NIC, Volume 17, No. 1,
July 2008 jointly authored by NICTU Team.
A Research Paper entitled “Women in Rural Indian
Households and Energy Needs: Struggle and Solace
Cultural Perspective to Reality” authored by
Dr. N. K. Kumaresan Raja , Professor, Centre for
Rural Studies was published in the Edited Volume
on “The Culture of Energy” by Mogens Rudiger,
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK, 2008
Publications from the 'Cannons of
Research' of the Academy
The Academy proudly brings out two 'Journals',
with and of profound professional acumen in the
endeavor of translating the motto of the Academy
by way of publications.
The Administrator
The Journal operates as a mirror of issues
pertaining to contemporary issues in Indian as
well as Global Public Administration. We are
proud to hear from our officer trainees that the
journal was a part of their life jackets during their
gauntlet years of swimming in the waters of Civil
Services Exams finding the shores!
Service Quality
“Service Quality”- the mitochondrion of the
principles of “Total Quality Management”, a
prodigy from the neurons of Shri. Padamvir Singh,
the Joint Director, deciphers his aims of redefining
the pre-established definitions of “Service Quality”
of delivery systems in Government
Administration.
Utmost importance is given for 'out of box
thinking' to ensure optimum quality, confirming
to international benchmarks in every public
service delivery system and articles spearheading
such visions and missions of discovering the
indicators ensuring “Service Quality” is the focal
theme of the contents of the Journal.
Retreat for the 1958 batch
Arti Ahuja*
The batch of 1958 was unique- it was the last batch of
the IAS to be trained at the Metcalfe house in Delhi.
After that, the training was shifted to the National
Academy, as it was then called, at Mussoorie. From
Metcalfe and its proximity to the powers at Delhi, to
the cool, meditative environs of Mussoorie was
indeed a quantum jump, literally and figuratively, for
the idea of training civil servants. This was evident in
the reminiscences of the batch- they recounted with
delight their close interaction with the Prime Minister
Mr Jawaharlal Nehru and other dignitaries including
the Home Minister Mr Pant, before whom they
successfully protested against shifting the Academy
to Mussoorie during their training period! Metcalfe
house, with its colonial grandeur and sprawling
lawns symbolized the handing over of the reigns of
government from the ICS to the IAS and the IFS. The
batch was understandably nostalgic about the time
spent there, and we were regaled with numerous
stories about the training there.
21 members of the batch, some with their spouses,
attended the retreat. Members of the batch, who were
no more, were fondly remembered by the entire
batch before the proceedings started. For the first
time, members of the Indian Foreign Service who
were trained together with the batch at Metcalfe
house were invited. One officer attended the retreat,
and his reminiscences added depth to the
deliberations. It was a pleasure for the faculty to be
part of the sharing of their memories-the group had
many highly distinguished members, who had
achieved excellence in their careers as well as beyond
that. They had braved many odds and achieved a lot
for the country in the areas they had worked in. The
batch also has been highly prolific-we were initially
able to find 16 books written by the batch members,
with more coming to light during the deliberations!
During the retreat, the 82nd Foundation Course was
also going on. Escort Officers from the FC were able
to have a close and meaningful interaction with the
seniors. There was also a structured panel
discussion with all the young Officer Trainees of the
Foundation Course- an experience that was found
very useful by both groups. The 1958 batch also
contributed to the training inputs by giving their
suggestions on various areas of concern for the
officer trainees. This was done through discussion
in groups and arriving at a set of recommendations.
The retreat was given a touch of warmth and colour
by the spouses who gamefully sang at the Director's
dinner and braved the sporadic rain showers at the
valedictory in Polo ground. The last group photo
with the ubiquitous umbrellas become probably the
defining moment of the retreat and the batch gettogether.
There were moments of rain and sunshine,
but they were all greeted with good humour and
immense camaraderie and grace. This was how the
officers had also lived their lives- standing tall
under adversity and paving the way for the future
generation of officers. It was a pleasure coordinating
the retreat for this unique and wonderful batch.
* Former Deputy Director(Sr.), LBSNAA
An agenda for better governance-
What needs to be done?
Padamvir Singh*
To attain global standards in the quality of
governance, consider adopting the following policy
framework:
Improve Service Delivery by focusing on the
following key performance enablers:
Prerequisites
Develop and implement a core governance and
core reform agenda;
Firmly establish the rule of law and maintain
public order at all times as the basic foundation of
good governance;
Keep public interest supreme and place people at
the centre of all government activity;
cont. on p.8

8 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008 9 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008
Ensure zero tolerance towards corruption;
Reorganization
Redesign and rebuild a right-sized, citizen-centric
and responsive structure of government;
Review all old and outdated laws and update them
and use them as instruments of accountability and
development;
Standards
Provide quality services to the people in
accordance with specified standards or charters,
making use of state of the art technology and
process re-engineering;
Make public service delivery mechanisms
transparent with effective implementation of the
right to information;
Use citizen and client feedback for continuous
improvement;
Ensure service standards through effectively
implementing laws relating to consumer
protection;
Management Systems
Ensure cost effectiveness and quality service by
exploring alternative mechanisms for service
delivery such as outsourcing and public-privatepeople
partnerships;
Adopt participatory mechanisms and teamwork in
the planning, delivery and evaluation of public
service delivery.
Introduce performance management systems by
developing measurable performance indicators
supported by appropriate incentives and
disincentives. Link budgets to outcomes and
placements on considerations of performance and
suitability;
Ensure fiscal responsibility and sanctity of the
budgetary process and institute effective planning
and budget management systems;
Human Resources
Develop leadership at all levels through effective
delegation so as to energize and drive
improvement. Strengthen district level
administration for effective delivery of services
provided by the state government;
Encourage innovation and creativity;
Evolve and implement human resource
development initiatives to manage change in the
context of paradigm shifts in public administration
and technology;
Ensure security of tenure and provide for
transparency in promotions, transfers and
placements;
Decentralize
Strengthen rural and urban local bodies for
effective service delivery by devolution of
functions, finances and functionaries and through
capacity building programmes;
Evaluate and Benchmark
Undertake third party appraisal and
benchmarking of programmes, schemes and
institutions.
Monkey Business
B. Ashok*
* Joint Director,LBSNAA
Our verdant Mussoorie campus is cohabited (along
with officers: trainers and trainees) by around four
hundred rhesus monkeys. They are everywhere,
looking for food from mess leftovers, fruit trees and
even residential litter boxes. Most are Rhesus varietythe
ugly yellow grey ones, and Langurs- the black
faced taller ones. They are protected by the wild life
Act and Rhesus monkeys are also revered as
descendents of Hanuman by the local populace.
These works in their favor and all attempts by the
Academy to relocate them or control their occasional
misbehavior have been wasted.
The three hundred odd Rhesus monkeys are also
divided into three or four warring clans, each led by
a vicious looking huge chieftain. My first encounter
with a large mature adult sparring chieftain was
awesome enough. We had moved into our residence
behind Kalindi and I was rushing down the
stairs for a meeting. Hey presto, as in
Kalyanasougandhikam there he sits on the head of
stairs, ignoring my shooing or pleadings to give way.
Option less I lifted a medium broken brick and
aimed. He snarled and glared his canines and turned
around in full ambush posture. His war cry
is still ringing in my ears, and responding answer
calls were poring out from atop the water tank. I
barely escaped into my house with my shirt on.
Since then I keep an air rifle which seems to have an
impact on the clan and use it very often to clear way.
Generally monkey chiefs spare adults unless you get
caught in the cross fire: that is when the clans are
fighting ferociously! If the chieftain is
securing his exclusive access to the choice female
under challenge, well even if you are adult they may
spring on you, mistaking you to be an extra
challenger. Observing them brings to my mind the
theory of my esteemed trainee from Haryana which
explains the ills in our system. It can be called the
theory of the "Jhavad bandhar"! I had the good
fortune to travel with this gentleman to USA and
back on training. Naturally officers discuss the ills of
politicians, the system etc. For every ill identified,
our gentleman would retort, with a loud drool draw
on his glass of scotch:
"Sirjee, sub Jhavad bandhar ki kahani hai!"(All this is
the story of the chieftain monkey). He would explain
the dominating strategies of the Jhavad vis a vis the
females, and conclude: "Sub unke hain, our baki sub
sirf thali bachthe rahte hain" (The winner takes all,
the rest can just remain clapping).
After an extended stay in Europe and witnessing the
historic Ivrea carnival near Milan, I can understand
what he says. Ivrea is a small town where the custom
of Prima Nocta (the first post marriage night of every
virgin belonged to the local feudal lord) was
challenged by one Violetta who resisted him and
beheaded the Lord in the nocturnal encounter. To
celebrate this freedom, Ivreans dress up as the agents
of the feudal lord, roam around in horse carts and
pelt each other with oranges on the appointed winter
day. Around Seven million oranges are pelted. The
subtext is you like a woman on the street you can
pelt her on the day without attracting the police. By
custom she has to consider you. The Mayor of the
town issues a permission allowing the pelting of
oranges exempt from nuisance /petty offence list. Of
more interest is the choice brew sold from the paved
roadside kiosks through out the day. One gulp and
the winter turns warm enough! One must also
mention the beautiful women of the town
celebrating their love out in the open, displaying
intimacy and freedom. Well, the Harayanvi theory of
Jhavad bandar has been overturned in some parts of
the World, nevertheless it did exist. Of the more
mundane pranks of these animals have been flicking
innocuous things with serious consequences. As it
happened to us, one of my trousers turned up in the
washed pile of our esteemed neighbors, the Chopras.
In fact Mr Chopra found it out when he tried to wear
it and discovered he had enough space for two!
Fortunately we are both very understanding
husbands and wives, and promptly blamed the
monkeys for the trouser switch. But for the monkeys,
I cannot imagine an answer to Preeti how my
trousers can't keep themselves to our wardrobe!
Besides when we were trainees I remember the few
lady trainees complaining regular loss of costly
underwear left to dry. Those days we did not have
launderettes. In retrospect, it is not impossible to
imagine a queer monkey trying out the possibly
super padded ones in the wild and dancing away his
way into bliss. The gentlemen of the services cannot
be stealing women's underwear, though I have met
quite a few real queers fond of flicking many strange
things!
It is not funny all the time. A couple of children of
faculty members were bitten and had to undergo
vaccination etc. There was pressure on me as the
then in charge of estates to control the menace. We
did explore options. We located a firm of monkey
controllers /catchers who offered their
services. One hitch stopped the operation. The terms
of the firm said they will charge a few thousands per
day of operation, irrespective of the numbers of
monkeys caught and transported away into jungles.
Finance advisor wouldn't accept it. This way the firm
has to be paid even if no monkey is ever caught. He
wanted a per monkey fool proof quote while the
firm wouldn't have any of it. The 'Jhavad bandar's
had their lucky day and were free to go amok again.
Presently my friend Rajesh Aryaji has an innovative
Hi tech plan to install some ultrasound scare for the

10 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008 11 The Academy Oct.-Nov. 2008
monkeys near the faculty and OT residences. The
health prospects for humans of these technologies is
under study since what is scary for monkeys cannot
be totally beneficial for humans, them being 99.5%
genetically related to us. (Aryaji corrects me that
some prankster probationers are 150% related). Some
faculties feel that trainees are challenging enough
without any prospective ultra sound induced
mutations!
Seriously, the Academy is a place where we have to
throw "the monkey on our back" away and come out
of our comfort zones. Weightlessness to fly high is
the aim, freedom in thinking and action come
through freeing the binds and comfort zones of the
mind. Monkeys, Jhavad and ordinary add to the
challenge and remind us the fluidity of the World we
inhabit. Let them be, let us be, and let us keep
learning from each other.
* Deputy Director, LBSNAA
National Health Information Highway
Dr. S. H. Khan *
Researchers have joined IBM's Business Consulting
Services on a pilot program with one significant
healthcare group. The challenges faced by the team
were formulating healthcare standards specific to
India and convincing healthcare entities across the
nation to integrate those standards into their business
processes. The partnership formed with a large
hospital chain in India will facilitate the formation of
a working committee, consisting of hospitals and the
IT and Health ministries, to create health data
standards for the country. IBM has already deployed
Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) over the data
grid to demonstrate standards-driven claim data
exchange. And, as the first pilot program is
progressing, other programs will be rolled out to two
hospitals and two insurance third-party
administrators.
National Health Information Highway system offers
information technology to help reduce medical
errors, improve efficiency, assist planning (locations
of specialty hospitals or medical schools, crisis
management, drug and equipment supply and
budgeting etc.), and accelerate research and training
(using diagnosis data to train medicos or using
medical problems captured on the network to build
test cases.) In 2002, India's healthcare industry
contributed five percent to the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) and employed approximately four
million people. By 2012, it is projected to contribute
8.5 percent of the GDP. Healthcare spending in the
country will double over the next 10 years with
private healthcare contributing a large portion of this
spending, rising from US $14.8 billion to US $33.6
billion. Because the traditional system of medicine is
faced with escalating healthcare costs, the state
health systems desperately need to improve
efficiency in how they allocate and use health
resources to combat the many problems the rapidly
developing country has. These problems include
infant and maternal mortality rates that are still high;
basic reproductive and child health services, supplies
and infrastructure needs that are unmet; and
universal immunization of children against all
vaccine-preventable diseases has not yet been
achieved. In addition, the government is striving to
achieve zero-level growth of HIV/AIDS, reduce
mortality from vector-and water-borne diseases by
50 percent, and increase the use of public health
facilities-all by 2015.
Other healthcare highway capabilities include:
facilitating electronic data exchange (which will
automate the current manual process and reduce
the time it takes to settle claims from the current
four to six weeks),
providing data standardization (which will allow
for interoperative and collaborative networks),
middleware-based (to allow flexible collaboration
among multiple third-party administrators and
hospitals nationwide),
supporting information integration and extraction
(to answer queries from the doctors and
administrators),
supporting hybrid client platforms and
programming languages (to allow different TPAs
and hospitals to be part of the network),
using industry standard interfaces (so that crosstraining
and re-training won't be necessary),
offering security through an authorized data
channel (so that only authorized personnel can
access this highly confidential information), and
provide auditing, which is required by the IRDA,
the insurance regulatory body in India.
High-tech, five-star hospitals have pushed costs skyhigh.
A simple headache will warrant a CT scan to
rule out a brain tumour. Doctors have used the CPA
to further justify expensive and sometime
unnecessary investigations and therapies. On the
other hand, sophisticated equipment is available in
government hospitals, but it is often not in working
condition. According to the VHAI report, the
government's annual public health expenditure is
about Rs. 10,000 crore - a pittance compared to an
estimated expenditure in the private sector of
between Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 60,000 crore. Private
services experience support from ruling class , who
often receive free treatment-which is actually
intended for the poor, and is a pre-condition for the
various concessions and tax benefits that these
hospitals enjoy. The entry of the corporate hospital
signals an open focus on profit rather than people's
needs. Private medical colleges and high-tech private
hospitals are proliferating across the nation. In
essence ,stakeholders in these ventures, treat medical
education and healthcare as any other industry
which survives on profit.
* Deputy Director, LBSNAA
It is Mean to ignore the Median
Alok Kumar *
India is an economy in transition; I would say that it
is at an inflection point. The right policy mix could
put it well on its way to becoming a developed
country. It is the second fastest growing economy in
the world, clocking up average growth rates of 8-
8.5% per annum in the last 5 years. It has seen a
steady increase in consumption as measured by the
Real Average Monthly Per Capita Expenditure
(MPCE). The Below Poverty Line [income levels less
than $1 (PPP) per day] population has been
decreasing at a rate of 1% per annum.
That said, however, it is also clear that the number of
poor at 267 million [2005] remains unacceptably
large. If you also include the fact that of the
remaining population, 190 million earn between $1
and $1.25 a day and a further 170 million earn
between $1.25 and $1.35 a day, it would be clear that
a large number of people 55% to be precise-are
unable to afford a dignified life. The increases in per
capita income (currently $575) largely reflect the
income growths of the top quintile of the population.
In fact, the data on changes in per capita
expenditures reveal that the increase (between 1993
& 2004) in case of top quintile (richest 20% of the
population) was 2.03% per annum against 0.85% for
bottom quintile.
It could arguably be said that a few billionaires could
possibly raise the mean income; without affecting the
vast majority of poor. Very recently we have seen
how the voters rejected the idea of “India Shining”
which focused on a very narrow base of well to do
sections. What are the lessons for the policy makers?
The inherent learning from the above is that public
policy to be effective needs to target the median
voter. From our high school mathematics, we would
remember that the median voter would be that voter
who would divide the population exactly into two
halves (one half having income greater and the other
having an income lower than the median voter). If
the median voter does not gain from the policy, it
may not be achieving its objective.
New schemes such as NREGS, RKVY & NRHMtarget
exactly the median voter but the jury is still
out whether they shall be able to achieve the
intended outcomes in view of the delivery systems in
place. Perhaps the expenditure data published by the
next “thick” round of National Sample Survey on
expenditures and poverty would throw some light
on the subject.
Till then, however, it would be safe to say with due
apologies to John Allen Paulos- that it is “Mean to
Ignore the Median”
* Deputy Director ( Sr.), LBSNAA