MM XXVII No. 6 Alternative.Pmd
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Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/15-17 Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for India under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-506/15-17 Publication: 15th & 28th of every month Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI INSIDE • Short ‘N’ Snappy • Dangers of cladding • The Mittaikaran of Madras • With ear and touch • Granny Rose & her children Vol. XXVII No. 6 MUSINGS July 1-15, 2017 Time for TN to rein in finances (by Our Financial Correspondent) amil Nadu has the dubious distinction of topping the southern Tstates in revenue deficit, going by a study of State finances prepared by the Reserve Bank of India. The Government’s Budget fell from 64.02 per cent of total for 2017-18 shows that expen- expenditure to 41.86 per cent diture has been growing faster during the same period, indicat- than revenue. Revenue grew ing a declining emphasis on from Rs. 1,29,000 crore in essentials (CAG Study). 2015-16 to Rs. 1,59,000 crore in Increasing resort to free doles 2017-18 (Budget), whereas in may produce votes, neglecting the same period expenditure is the foundation for growth and expected to grow from Rs. welfare. 1,41,000 crore in 2015-16 to Rs. Even that little water that was in the Mylapore Tank for its ducks has vanished. This picture was taken to show 1,75,000 crore in 2017-18, wid- (Continued on page 8) what rainless Madras is going through. (Courtesy: Mylapore Times.) ening the revenue deficit from Rs. 12,000 crore to Rs. 16,000 crore. The same document explains that the rise in expen- diture is due to increase in food A shake up in the world of IT subsidies, loan waivers, free electricity and other items. or long, Information Tech- considered a virtue. But with rules in the US has hit everyone now hopes to cash in on the About 78 per cent of rev- Fnology was the blue-eyed job vacancies being in the thou- hard. disaffected. Given that this was enue goes towards expenditure poster boy of Indian industry. It sands, hirers and recruits were The nature of work too has an industry that celebrated any- of a non-development nature, brought in foreign exchange, not bothered about such things. changed. With blocks of code thing and everything American, constricting discretionary fiscal employed millions and made Poaching and overnight job that do basic IT work now be- it has strangely not been able to space for improving public sure we were part of the new switches were considered new ing freely available, such opera- stomach another typical Ameri- services and leveraging borrow- world. Manufacturing, which age. It was all held up as an ex- tions have ceased to have any can feature – the pink slip with ings for productive asset had kept Tamil Nadu going for ample of how Indian IT was demand. IT has shifted focus to no reasons being given. creation. Interest payment as a decades, was suddenly passé closely following the tenets of robotics, internet-of-things and The IT industry need not be percentage of revenue receipts and lost its sheen. Nobody the American industry. Loyalty cloud computing, all of which written off as yet. Far from it. It for the State is large, at 13.8 per wanted to work with machines, was old world and so dowdy. require new skills. Indian IT is just undergoing a much cent for 2016-17, Kerala outdo- in factory spaces, filled with needed correction phase and ing Tamil Nadu being the unionised labour. In contrast to will emerge leaner and better largest at 14.9 per cent. that, the world of IT was hugely G by A Special Correspondent from it. It may also begin focus- Telangana presents a refresh- attractive. But that scenario ing on excellence rather than ingly different picture at 7.6 per may soon change, for the worse. what was the key measure thus cent to be reckoned as the best The nature of the industry The money that flowed in what with all its focus on filling far, numbers. disciplined state (RBI Study). has suddenly undergone a was invariably measured in dol- jobs, has not had any time to What does all this have to do Growing revenue deficit is an change. Gone are the days lars as well. Most IT companies train its people in the new re- with Madras Musings, or for that area of concern, as it means that when IT companies required thrived on a wage arbitrage quirements. Educational insti- matter with Madras that is we are borrowing even to meet millions of coders, 50 per cent when it came to outsourced tutions that churn out IT Chennai? The city is the second routine needs. of them on the bench, to cover work. Costs in India were low as graduates in the thousands are largest exporter of software in Overlooking this compulsive up in case of sudden resigna- compared to what the same a generation or two behind. In India, second to Bangalore. need to borrow, even the qual- tions, something that was skills demanded in the USA. As such a scenario, it is no wonder Around three-fourths of Tamil ity of spending has not been endemic to the business. Job- for on-site jobs, there too wages that recruitments are now Nadu’s Rs. 50,000 crore IT irreproachable. Capital expen- hopping was the mantra and were pegged lower and all the turned off at the main and, export is from Chennai. A diture on Health and Family anyone who stayed on in a com- big names in Indian IT thrived what is worse, existing jobs are downturn in the industry will Welfare to aggregate expendi- pany for more than two years on wholesale bagging of the visa being axed in the thousands. have a huge impact on our city. ture fell steeply from 9.78 per was considered a has-been. quotas that the US authorities The response has been typi- It is best that we view it as an cent in 2013-14 to 7.61 per cent Such an attitude, requiring a opened up every now and then. cal. Those affected are talking opportunity to correct several in 2014-15 and similarly capital complete burial of norms such Most of these placements vio- of forming a trade union. One ills that the industry is known expenditure on water supply, as notice periods and commit- lated the norms and it is no already exists in Madras, but for but has chosen to brush un- sanitation, urban development ment to an employer, was not wonder that the tightening of with very few members and it der the carpet. CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS July 1-15, 2017 ● Not strictly Madras, but a warning to all of us Wheels within wheels Death trap decor etting India on the Move sion and plenty of grumbling. they deliver the terms is more Gwas if The Man from MMM found all of them walk- effective. Madras Musings recollects cor- ing about with perfect ease, On Being Overweight – If Was cladding to blame for rectly, was the first book he each one carrying a suitcase there are three speakers in a read of yours, Chief, and let that in shipping parlance would stand-up comedy you can be London tower fire? him add it was love at first have qualified for a bulk cargo sure that the man in the sight. And since then what a container, such being its size. It middle will be fat. And he will (by Neal Baker) beautiful relationship we have transpires that it is this con- keep making jokes about it. had. Since the time you wrote signment of probably pickles, And most of these so called olourful green and blue It is now been claimed that that book, Chief, India has savouries, prayer books, pots wisecracks on excess pound- Cpanels designed to improve the “death trap” cladding is been getting around quite a bit and pans, a mixer and a wet age have been around from the insulation and soften the looks banned in America – and a fire- as is evident from the swarms grinder or two that really ne- time of Shakespeare. There of the brutalist concrete block proof version could have cost of our brethren to be seen at cessitates the wheelchair. All of was a time when cinema were fitted to Grenfell Tower in just £5,000 more. various international airports! those wheeled about, without milked the subject dry and, to- Kensington, West London, as a When six people died in a MMM was recently at quite a exception, were then found to day, the presence of a fat per- few and in all of them he saw be having an enormous box son on screen probably evokes part of a £10 million refurbish- 2009 fire at Lakanal House, a nothing else but, Indians are neatly tucked between their more sympathy than amuse- ment in May 2017. Dense foam 14-storey block in Camberwell, on the move. And how! legs. ment. Why then do these boards coated in zinc rainproof South-east London, exterior Nowhere else is the colour MMM took aside an airline stand-up comics imagine that sheets were spaced 30 mm apart cladding panels ignited in just and chaos of this community employee and asked if his sur- obesity is going to make an across the 24-storey building, four-and-a-half minutes.