अरुणाचल से विपक्ष विलुप्त हो गया...

अरुणाचल से विपक्ष विलुप्त हो गया...

Is it hampering the talent?

Is quota hampering our talent. Yes, this quota bomb spoil chanches for the real talented peoples. Now you can sea 49.5% promoted(baselessly) people in our government system and now our leaders are trying to implement it in the private saector......please unite and stop them to do this.

Is this a quota-led society?

Are we living in a 'Quota led world’? In our country today, the most popular word for our politicians is 'Quota'. After the implementation of Mandal report a quota wind has been influenced to the every sphere of our political arena. And today our politicians are playing quota card as their easiest way to get votes of the majority voters of the country. They have roped this quota in the government jobs (For getting jobs and promotions too), and now they are working to implement it in private sector jobs. They are just trying to create a world of vote bank politics and by this they are paralysing the whole system to promote non-performers. At first they paralysed the government's working capacity to rope quota in government jobs and now they are pressuring for quota system in private jobs too. Now they are fighting to paralyse our higher educational system to implement OBC Quota in it.

What they want to create?

The 'Quota card' is not new for us. We have a quota system since our national independence in 1947. This quota had been implemented for the socially backward classes and was implemented just for the 10 years, as provided by out constitution. But now it is crossing the level. Now it harnesses the productivity of out system and promotes the non-performers in the system that can paralyse our system. To implement the quota for OBC our Union government has decided to double the seats in higher educational institutes. Definitely it will kill the chances for meritorious students of all classes. It can ruin the glamour of these professions and plant non-performers in the system.

A meritorious students which have got a place in a Delhi collage said that, "Instead of promoting merit, this government is promoting caste". This frustration which are being developed in the minds of our meritorious students is the result of this quota politics in India. This is the real condition made by this quota diplomatic of our governments in India. Now the seats are being reserved in the higher educational institutes too. Now the non-performers seats (Reserve seats-Which does not get by merit) in the higher educational institutes increased to 49.5 %. On the issue, the Supreme Court has stayed the order to implement OBC quota in educational institutes. But these political elements trying to implement it on any cost.
Who is socially backward now?

Are government providing special treatment to the upper caste people? Are these so called upper caste people getting any privilege in our system? No, they are just prohibited to get their basic rights. In this new quota system the upper caste people in India are depressed class or after it will cross the limit they are being united to fight back for their cause, for their rights.
Reality of depressed classes!

In his interim order, the Supreme Court of India said while hearing to the case of OBC Quota, the court asked to the government councilor that who is this 'OBC class'. Have you any data to support this special privilege given by the government to these classes. Staying the government move to implement quota from this academic session the court said "the government has absolutely no identifiable caste data" to justify its step to provide 27.5 percent reservation in educational institutions to SEBC or Other Backward Classes (OBC) students. This implemented on the data related to the 1931 census". Court asked how u are trying to implement OBC Quota on the base of a 75 years old data.

Now the political leaders want to implement quota in private sector jobs. But the datas say the other story: 55 per cent of the workforce in Hindustan Lever (A private company) comprises peoples from the categories that the government wants to favour. Similarly. About 24 % of those employed by Bajaj Auto are from these classes. With these facts the private sector opposing to give entry to non-performers in this fast growing economy. OBCs account for only 25.9 per cent of those finishing schools and 23.3 per cent of those finishing colleges-compared to their 52 per cent share of the population (If u accepted the figures given by the Mandal Commission report).Definitely this figure have changed now, after 15 years of implementing the Mandal Commission report. One thing, which should address on the matter, is creamy layer menace. Why they should get the benefits of this quota, when many of them belong to a wealthy class. They should be excluded from the beneficiaries classes. In promotions these classes have quota too. They are getting promotions with lesser merit, as we have reservations in the promotions in government jobs as well!

Future of this system!

After all where are we heading? What about the majority and their future. What about the top brains of India. Are we telling them to go to USA. and serve them. If it is, we are asking for trouble, my friend. India is doing so well in ITs , Shipping, Corporate sectors etc. But these leaders trying to spoil our talent. Why these leaders are talking about only Muslims, all those OBCs, STs, SCs etc. Why not they are doing something for the poor people of all classes. These so-called politicians are only bothered about their vote banks. They are not at all keen on larger interest of our society? We the people should decide what we want, not these so-called Politicians without consulting the people decide? It’s high time, all intellectuals should head for Politics. Let’s hope there is a paradigm shift in thinking of our people.

For the welfare of these so-called depressed classes the government should have given much consideration to basic education and healthcare for children belong to these classes. Govt doing same thing as he has done in Maharashtra where he threw money where farmers are committing suicides rather than thinking of his govt’s failure.

Money makers eye India’s rural market!

Why are national and multi-national companies increasingly giving more and more emphasis on rural market of India? Are they trying to help the rural folk out of their miseries or just trying to churn out more and more money for themselves at the cost of the common people?Such questions are of paramount importance in the age of globalization and privatization when our own government is pushing forward the new economic policies and so called reforms under the tacit understanding or guidance of certain foreign forces. It has already resulted into a situation of great miseries for the common people due to steep price hike for essential commodities which have become beyond their reach. Now the government of India is telling the people that they cannot control the price rise and inflation. It is certainly a time for more distress and miseries for people and we have to think twice before we blindly believe and follow the new policies led by developed countries including USA and European countries. The worst part of all this phenomena is that the term globalisation is now in currency in India and is being tried to popularize more and more. The forces working day and night for this want us to believe that everything western, from simple way of life to policies and philosophy are the only refuse.The painful aspect of Indian’s life is that we, after the six decades of our Political independence and approximately one and half decade of our so-called new economic policy, are now ready to become mere consumers. The first phase of the economic reform has already been over, and now the market forces are simply trying to tap more and more customers for their products. Having tapped the Indian urban market, these players are now trying to woo the rural customers.These companies are not only expecting a big boom in the Indian rural market for the consumption of their products, but also eyeing on the productive capacity of rural India. The idea is that the potentially vast capacity of the rural productivity can fulfill the emerging requirements of the big and small towns.Even in the villages these market players are indirectly enforcing the villagers to adopt their style of living. Even today the needs of our rural people are small ones in their traditional lifestyle: food, fuel, water, roads etc. Lately, electricity, telephone and television percolated to the rural areas. Further, a rapid change is being shown through TV ads to entice villagers to become consumers for new products. Now communication, automobile, beverage and FMGC goods are being developed as major requirements in the rural India.In fact, the rural India is trying to reduce its dependency on agriculture, mainly because agriculture has been reduced to unprofitable or less profitable activity for the farmers. This situation has been systematically created through the policies of our own governments in collaboration with certain forces. Albeit, our leaders have always been projecting themselves as saviours of rural India and shedding crocodile’s tears for the farmers.At present, a little less than half of rural GDP is from non-agricultural activities. This is creating a different kind of rural market. The rural market is becoming closer in its mindset to the urban market. This is already happening in the more developed higher-income states.Here are some market figures of 2004 collected by NSSO which showed the changing consumption trends in Indian rural and urban market.Average monthly per capita consumer expenditure (average MPCE) was Rs.559 in rural India and Rs.1052 in urban India at 2004-05 prices.Out of every rupee spent in 2004-05 by the average rural Indian on consumption, 55 paise was spent on food. Of this, 18 paise was spent on cereals and cereal substitutes, 8 paise on milk and milk products, 6 paise on vegetables, 5 paise on edible oil, 5 paise on sugar, salt and spices, and 5 paise on beverages, refreshments and processed food.Out of every rupee spent in 2004-05 by the average urban Indian on consumption, 43 paise was spent on food. Of this, 10 paise was spent on cereals and cereal substitutes, 8 paise on milk and milk products, 6 paise on beverages, refreshments and processed food, and 4 paise on vegetables.In both rural and urban India, fuel and light took up 10% of total consumer expenditure while clothing, bedding and footwear took up 5%.Medical expenses formed 7% of total consumer expenditure in rural India and 5% in urban India.Educational expenses formed 3% of total consumer expenditure in rural India and 5% in urban India.Conveyance expenses formed 4% of total consumer expenditure in rural India and 7% in urban India.Average quantity of cereals consumed per person per month was 12.1 kg in rural areas and 9.9 kg in urban areas.Average value of cereals consumed per person per month was Rs.101 in rural India and Rs.106 in urban India.In rural areas of Haryana and Punjab, expenditure on cereals formed only 9% of total consumer expenditure. But in rural areas of West Bengal and Assam cereals contributed 23% or more to total consumer expenditure, and in rural areas of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, they formed 27-28% of consumer expenditure.In urban areas of Punjab and Haryana cereals took up 6-7% of the household (consumption) budget; in urban areas of Bihar and Orissa they took up 17%.Between 1972-73 and 2004-05, the share of food in total consumer expenditure has fallen from 73% to 55% in rural areas and from 64% to 42% in urban areas. The share of cereals has fallen from 41% of consumer expenditure to 18% in rural India and from 23% to 10% in urban India. The share of fuel and light in total consumer expenditure has risen from under 6% to 10% in both rural and urban areas. The share of clothing in total consumer expenditure has fallen from 7-8% to 4.5% in rural India and from 5-7% to 4% in urban India.Quantity of cereals consumed per person per month has declined between 1993-94 and 2004-05, that is, in the decade preceding the survey, from 13.4 kg to 12.1 kg in rural India and from 10.6 kg to 9.9 kg in urban India.This new trend of Indian rural market is making room for a new way of success for the market players. The producers are also ready to tap this market. Reliance, Walmart, and other private sector companies are working now to catch the market trend in retail sector. TATA is trying to cover the small car market in Indian rural areas. Honda too gears up for the small Indian car market. After a major success in South and Western India, Dairy industry is set to tackle new challenges in North Indian rural market too.

Now, banks eyeing on rural consumption!

There are more that 60 lakhs villages in India and now the main focuss of the industrail players of India and multinationals who working in Indian, is the rural market. They eye the speedy growth of the rural India now.Rural Market Figure:India's 742 million strong rural population, outsizing the US and Europe, is moving towards branded products. Education for women is more than a politician's promise; it's a marketer's delight. Television, cable TV and FMCG products have penetrated the south far more than any other region in India. Research says, “Penetration driving strategy better for east and north, while for south the question is how to get value from consumer already using your product and brand.’Big future in small loans in India for BanksMicrolenders have been helping farmers buy a buffalo and women set up weaving businesses for nearly three decades in India, most successfully in the wealthier southern states.Now, rapid economic growth and the entry of more foreign banks and private equity firms, coupled with improving infrastructure and new technologies, is encouraging large Indian and international lenders to enter the space.Even wealthy private investors are looking at microfinance, where in addition to the halo of a do-gooder, returns can be as much as 2 percentage points more than from conventional products."Time was when banks didn't take microfinance seriously, when they regarded it as corporate social responsibility rather than a serious commercial opportunity," said Siddhartha Chowdri of Accion Technical Advisors, a technical partner of Yes Bank India's for microfinance."They realize now that the poor are good credit risks, and that they have a need for capital their whole lives."India's microfinance market is estimated at 130 million homes, with money lenders and other informal sources accounting for more than 80 percent of borrowings.Informal credit in rural India is estimated at $5.4 billion, according to the All India Debt and Investment Survey. More than 40,000 bank branches have lent nearly $3 billion in the 10-year period to 2006, mostly to groups of poor women, it said.MEGA MARKETState lenders including leader State Bank of India have a long record of lending to the poor to help meet a priority lending requirement, or 40 percent of all lending.Private lenders ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, UTI Bank and Yes Bank have launched microfinance arms recently. Global heavyweights, including ABN Amro, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC Holdings and Citigroup are also eyeing the space."We were the first organised lender here ... the moneylenders used to threaten my staff," said Anil Jadhav at Hindustan Cooperative Credit Society Ltd. in Kurla, a Mumbai suburb.

Two Indias: In view of Coca Cola(Bharat ke 2 bazaar: Coca Cola ki nazar me)

The MNCs whick working in India are now adopt the slogan of 'Think Globaly, Act Localy'. The big player of the beverage market in world and in India too 'Coca Cola' adopt it as their marketting policy in India to tap the rapidly emerging rural Indian market. Here are the 2 Indias which are being developed by this multinational company:

"India A," the designation Coca-Cola gave to the market segment including metropolitan areas and large towns, represented 4% of the country's population. This segment sought social bonding as a need and responded to aspirational messages, celebrating the benefits of their increasing social and economic freedoms. "Life ho to aisi," (life as it should be) wasthe successful and relevant tagline found in Coca-Cola's advertising to this audience.

India B: "Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola" Coca-Cola India believed that the first brand to offer communication targeted to the smaller towns would own the rural market and went after that objective with a comprehensivestrategy. "India B" included small towns and rural areas, comprising the other 96% of the nation's population. This segment's primary need was out-of-home thirst-quenching and the soft drink category was indifferentiated in the minds of rural consumers. Additionally, withan average Coke costing Rs. 10 and an average day's wages around Rs. 100, Coke was perceived as a luxury that few could afford. 34In an effort to make the price point of Coke within reach of this high-potential market, Coca- Cola launched the Accessibility Campaign, introducing a new 200ml bottle, smaller than the traditional 300ml bottle found in urban markets, and concurrently cutting the price in half, Rs. 5. This pricing strategy closed the gap between Coke and basic refreshments like lemonade and tea, making soft drinks truly accessible for the first time. At the same time, Coke invested in distribution infrastructure to effectively serve a disbursed population anddoubled the number of retail outlets in rural areas from 80,000 in 2001 to 160,000 in 2003,increasing market penetration from 13 to 25%.35Coke's advertising and promotion strategy pulled the marketing plan together using local language and idiomatic expressions. "Thanda," meaning cool/cold is also generic for cold beverages and gave "Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola" delicious multiple meanings. Literally translated to "Coke means refreshment," the phrase directly addressed both the primary needof this segment for cold refreshment while at the same time positioning Coke as a "Thanda" or generic cold beverage just like tea, lassi, or lemonade. As a result of the Thanda campaign, Coca-Cola won Advertiser of the Year and Campaign of the Year in 2003.

His success in Rural India:

Comprising 74% of the country's population, 41% of its middle class, and 58% of its disposable income, the rural market was an attractive target and it delivered results. Coke experienced 37% growth in 2003 in this segment versus the 24% growth seen in urban areas. Driven by the launch of the new Rs. 5 product, per capita consumption doubled between 2001-2003. This market accounted for 80% of India's new Coke drinkers, 30% of 2002 volume, and was expected to account for 50% of the company's sales in 2003.

Now rural India on target of MNCs!

TO expand the market by tapping the countryside, more and more MNCs are foraying into India's rural markets. Among those that have made some headway are Hindustan Lever, Coca-Cola, LG Electronics, Britannia, Standard Life, Philips, Colgate Palmolive and the foreign-invested telecom companies.

Opportunity

The Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offers a huge opportunity that MNCs cannot afford to ignore. With 128 million households, the rural population is nearly three times the urban.As a result of the growing affluence, fuelled by good monsoons and the increase in agricultural output to 200 million tonnes from 176 million tonnes in 1991, rural India has a large consuming class with 41 per cent of India's middle-class and 58 per cent of the total disposable income.

The importance of the rural market for some FMCG and durable marketers is underlined by the fact that the rural market accounts for close to 70 per cent of toilet-soap users and 38 per cent of all two-wheeler purchased.The rural market accounts for half the total market for TV sets, fans, pressure cookers, bicycles, washing soap, blades, tea, salt and toothpowder, What is more, the rural market for FMCG products is growing much faster than the urban counterpart.

The 4A approach
The rural market may be alluring but it is not without its problems: Low per capita disposable incomes that is half the urban disposable income; large number of daily wage earners, acute dependence on the vagaries of the monsoon; seasonal consumption linked to harvests and festivals and special occasions; poor roads; power problems; and inaccessibility to conventional advertising media.

However, the rural consumer is not unlike his urban counterpart in many ways.The more daring MNCs are meeting the consequent challenges of availability, affordability, acceptability and awareness (the so-called 4 As)

Availability
The first challenge is to ensure availability of the product or service. India's 627,000 villages are spread over 3.2 million sq km; 700 million Indians may live in rural areas, finding them is not easy. However, given the poor state of roads, it is an even greater challenge to regularly reach products to the far-flung villages. Any serious marketer must strive to reach at least 13,113 villages with a population of more than 5,000. Marketers must trade off the distribution cost with incremental market penetration. Over the years, India's largest MNC, Hindustan Lever, a subsidiary of Unilever, has built a strong distribution system which helps its brands reach the interiors of the rural market. To service remote village, stockists use autorickshaws, bullock-carts and even boats in the backwaters of Kerala. Coca-Cola, which considers rural India as a future growth driver, has evolved a hub and spoke distribution model to reach the villages. To ensure full loads, the company depot supplies, twice a week, large distributors which who act as hubs. These distributors appoint and supply, once a week, smaller distributors in adjoining areas. LG Electronics defines all cities and towns other than the seven metros cities as rural and semi-urban market. To tap these unexplored country markets, LG has set up 45 area offices and 59 rural/remote area offices.

Affordability
The second challenge is to ensure affordability of the product or service. With low disposable incomes, products need to be affordable to the rural consumer, most of whom are on daily wages. Some companies have addressed the affordability problem by introducing small unit packs. Godrej recently introduced three brands of Cinthol, Fair Glow and Godrej in 50-gm packs, priced at Rs 4-5 meant specifically for Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — the so-called `Bimaru' States.

Hindustan Lever, among the first MNCs to realise the potential of India's rural market, has launched a variant of its largest selling soap brand, Lifebuoy at Rs 2 for 50 gm. The move is mainly targeted at the rural market. Coca-Cola has addressed the affordability issue by introducing the returnable 200-ml glass bottle priced at Rs 5. The initiative has paid off: Eighty per cent of new drinkers now come from the rural markets. Coca-Cola has also introduced Sunfill, a powdered soft-drink concentrate. The instant and ready-to-mix Sunfill is available in a single-serve sachet of 25 gm priced at Rs 2 and mutiserve sachet of 200 gm priced at Rs 15.

Acceptability
The third challenge is to gain acceptability for the product or service. Therefore, there is a need to offer products that suit the rural market. One company which has reaped rich dividends by doing so is LG Electronics. In 1998, it developed a customised TV for the rural market and christened it Sampoorna. It was a runway hit selling 100,000 sets in the very first year. Because of the lack of electricity and refrigerators in the rural areas, Coca-Cola provides low-cost ice boxes — a tin box for new outlets and thermocol box for seasonal outlets.The insurance companies that have tailor-made products for the rural market have performed well. HDFC Standard LIFE topped private insurers by selling policies worth Rs 3.5 crore in total premia. The company tied up with non-governmental organisations and offered reasonably-priced policies in the nature of group insurance covers. With large parts of rural India inaccessible to conventional advertising media — only 41 per cent rural households have access to TV — building awareness is another challenge. Fortunately, however, the rural consumer has the same likes as the urban consumer — movies and music — and for both the urban and rural consumer, the family is the key unit of identity. However, the rural consumer expressions differ from his urban counterpart. Outing for the former is confined to local fairs and festivals and TV viewing is confined to the state-owned Doordarshan. Consumption of branded products is treated as a special treat or indulgence.Hindustan Lever relies heavily on its own company-organised media. These are promotional events organised by stockists. Godrej Consumer Products, which is trying to push its soap brands into the interior areas, uses radio to reach the local people in their language.

Coca-Cola uses a combination of TV, cinema and radio to reach 53.6 per cent of rural households. It doubled its spend on advertising on Doordarshan, which alone reached 41 per cent of rural households. It has also used banners, posters and tapped all the local forms of entertainment. Since price is a key issue in the rural areas, Coca-Cola advertising stressed its `magical' price point of Rs 5 per bottle in all media.LG Electronics uses vans and road shows to reach rural customers. The company uses local language advertising. Philips India uses wall writing and radio advertising to drive its growth in rural areas.
The key dilemma for MNCs eager to tap the large and fast-growing rural market is whether they can do so without hurting the company's profit margins. Mr Carlo Donati, Chairman and Managing-Director, Nestle, while admitting that his company's product portfolio is essentially designed for urban consumers, cautions companies from plunging headlong into the rural market as capturing rural consumers can be expensive. "Any generalisation" says Mr Donati, "about rural India could be wrong and one should focus on high GDP growth areas, be it urban, semi-urban or rural."