Black Money - Who's responsible to avoid this

Hello friends.... Happy to be back with yet another blog.  Time permitting and my mind working as well as it should,  decided to bombard you all with a new blog every week.😃

We all understand and agree that Black Money is one of the biggest problem in this country and we all scream that the Government should do something to eradicate black money.

This blog can be considered as a sequel for my previous blog on Demonetization, which can be found at: https://eskay-blogs.blogspot.com/2018/09/demonetization-was-it-right-thing-to-do.html

The common misconception among general public is that black money is mainly being hoarded by politicians, cine actors and such.  Aren't there common man, with whom we interact on a daily basis, who's earning in black and do not disclose the actual income to the Government?

Let us see some of the statistics about Income Tax before we get into the specifics of how common public also involved in the generation of black money.

As per the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), for the FY2017, total number of Income Tax assesses in India was around 6.26 crores.  Earlier year (FY 2016) it was only around 4 crore.  So, for FY 2017 there has been almost 50% jump in the number of assesses (source: https://www.deccanchronicle.com/business/economy/250717/number-of-taxpayers-in-india-goes-up-from-4-crore-to-626-crore-in-fy17.html).   

Out of this 6.26 crore assesses, only about 24.40 lakh individuals/entities have declared their income to be in excess of Rs.10 Lakh a year (that's only 3.90% of the assesses earn more than Rs.10 lakh a year).  The other factor to wonder is total number of cars bought by Indians in 2016 (since we are considering the IT returns for FY 2017, I am taking the figures for 2016) was 36.69 lakhs.  Out of this at least about 40,000 cars are high-end luxury cars.  Don't we think there's a disparity here between what assesses declare as income compared to what they spend?

Now, the concept of Black Money and the huge sums held in black money are unfortunately not new to India.  Below is the statistics of black money estimated in India:

• FY 1975-76   -  Rs. 11,870 Crores (about 18% of India's GDP)
• FY 1980-81   -  Rs. 23,678 Crores (about 20% of India's GDP)
• FY 1983-84   -  Rs. 36,784 Crores (about 21% of India's GDP)

The above figures are from the White Paper prepared by the then Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee in May 2012 in a 108 page document and submitted in the Indian Parliament based on RBI's white paper submitted to Finance Ministry. (source: http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/White%20Paper%20Black%20Money/WhitePaper_BackMoney2012.pdf).  The best part is after submitting this report in May 2012, Mr. Mukherjee was removed from FM post in June 2012.  I think it should be a coincidence!!!

RBI's white paper submitted to Finance Ministry and Indian Parliament regarding Black Money, ways to curb black money and other details can be found at: https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Communications/Circular/910110000000000365.htm.  This study is almost in line with the above referred White Paper submitted by Finance Ministry.  This white paper by RBI is almost about 50 pages long.

For the FY 1994-95, India's black money was estimated at Rs.1,10,000 Crores (by Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance).  Prof. Madhu Dandavate (then Dy. Chairman of Planning Commission) estimated this figure to be Rs.80,000 Crores.

Dr. Poonam Gupta and Sanjeev Gupta conducted a study and concluded that NIPFP (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) has underestimated the circulation of black money and have stated the following to be the 'best estimate' of black money in India (source: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/black-money/parallel-economy-and-estimates-of-black-income-in-india/63014/):

• FY 1980-81  - Rs.    50,977 Crores (41.70% of GNP)
• FY 1983-84  - Rs.    85,208 Crores (45.80% of GNP)
• FY 1987-88  - Rs. 1,47,297 Crores (51.70% of GNP)

You can search the Internet and see which party was in power and who was the Finance Minister during these periods.

If we have to blame a particular political party for black money in the country, during the above periods the country was ruled by Congress.  As you can see from the data, Black Money in India grew exponentially during the Congress Government.  Black Money monster was created and later no government were able to beat the monster.  I leave this at this as I don't want to get more political.

Currently, India's black money is estimated at Rs. 37,94,530 Crores, which is about 25% of the country's GDP.  As India's economy was growing, black money also grew.  The only comforting data in this is black money was 21% of GDP in 1983-84 but only 25% in 2015-16 even though the volume of money is quite huge (as the economy grew).

We can categorize the black money in two parts for better understanding.  To do this, let us consider black money in following two categories:

1. Large lump-sum money taken by politicians and others as kickback for various things.  This type of money mostly never enters the black economy.  Normally these are big sums (like 500 crores, 1,000 crores, etc.).  This money is deposited or invested in foreign countries, which are tax havens and do not ask any question about the source or origin of fund.  These kickbacks are common Indian public's money and could have very well been spent for India's development.  The only advantage (the better of these two evils) is that, this money is not in black economy and does not multiply within the Indian economy.
2. The second part is the black money held by individuals, companies, corporations, etc.  This type of black money is used in everyday business transactions.  As people/companies/traders do business with this black money, it earns them profit and such profits (again profits are also black money as nothing is recorded in book and are cash dealings only) are again reinvested in business thus the black market economy keeps growing and competes with the country's GDP.

To understand the quantum of black money stashed abroad (as described in point # 1 above), see below:

An estimate by Washington-based research and advocacy group Global Financial Integrity in its report "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2003-2012", suggests that around US$ 439.60 billion of black money left Indian shores, between 2003 and 2012.  US$ 439.60 billion is equivalent to Rs. 26,38,000 CRORES.  This is during a nine year period between 2003 and 2012.

Out of this Rs.26,38,000 Crores at least 95% of it would be the money sent abroad by politicians and their families.  The balance 5% could be from big corporations and business houses.  If this much volume of money was sent in nine years, what would be the total quantum of black money stashed abroad since Independence???  (source: http://indpaedia.com/ind/index.php/Black_money:_India).

Now, for the black money in circulation within India (parallel economy), let us consider the following:

Total earning population in India (employed and self-employed put together) is around 67.72 crore out of this about 16.42 crore is engaged in Agricultural sector and hence we will leave them from taxable income group.  That leaves us with about 51.30 crore earning individuals in this country.  If we have only 6.26 crore assesses, that's only 12.20% of the earning individuals in this country.  Are we saying 87.80% of earning individuals earn less than Rs.2,50,000 a year (if you earn Rs.2.50 lakh or less per year, you need not pay tax)?  I don't think this is true.

Now, coming to our blog topic, how all black money is generated and in what sectors.  Let us ponder the below:

1. Real Estate / Construction: The first and foremost sector were lot of cash deal happens is real estate.  To a greater extent we have to blame the Government also for this as the property value is grossly undermined as per government records.  The properties do have "Guideline value" and "market value".  Guideline value is the value for the property in that particular locality fixed by the Government.  In most cases, guideline value is about 50% to 70% lower than the market value.  As buyer, you cannot register the property for actual value as it will be far higher than the guideline value.  So even an honest person is forced to deal in black money.  This is the reason real estate market took a big hit after demonetization.  For calculation purposes, let us conservatively assume only Rs.10,00,000 Crores of black money is involved in this industry.
2. Private Loan sharks: A lot of small businesses/individuals and others borrow money from local loan sharks.  The interest rates charged by these lenders varies from about 3% per month to about 8% per month.  Let us assume an individual loan shark has Rs.5,00,000 to lend and he lends this money at 5% interest per month.  In a year his Rs.5 Lakhs black money would have earned him Rs. 3 Lakhs in interest.  So by end of the first year, he has Rs.8 Lakhs black money.  If he keeps lending money (including the interest earned), within 3 years, his initial black money of Rs. 5 Lakhs would become at least around Rs. 15 lakhs or more.  Let us assume in entire India we have only about 1,00,000 such private loan sharks and assume they each have only about Rs.15 Lakhs, that's about Rs. 15,00,000 Crores of black money (again this is a very conservative estimate).
3. Professional fees in cash:  The biggest section of professionals who prefer the fee to be paid in cash are advocates.  As per Bar Council of India (BCI), it is estimated that India has about 15,00,000 lawyers.  On an average, let us assume even 50% of them take Rs.500 (bare minimum) per day in cash as their fee and only 100 days a year this happens (very very conservative estimate).  This will work out to Rs. 3,750 Crores per year.  Do you think this much amount received in cash is declared by these lawyers as their income and proper tax is paid?  Another scary data is that, as per BCI, at least 20% of the lawyers practicing in India are fake and do not have proper degree (or completed it).  This was informed to Chief Justice of India by BCI.   You can now guess the amount of black money only this section of the society is creating every year.
4. Other consultants / professionals: In a big country like India, there are many number of professional consultants viz., Sales Tax Consultant, IT Consultant, Chartered Accountants, agents for customs and the like.  Let us assume India has about 3,00,000 such consultants (CA's alone are 1,25,000 who are in full-time practice) who provide various service to the business community and individuals.   Let us assume these professionals/consultants, on an average, take Rs. 250 a day and work only for about 200 days in a year.  That's about Rs.750 Crores a year by these professionals.  This is a bare minimum and very optimistic estimate.
5. Restaurants / Dhabas and other eateries: As of 2010, it was said that the reported turnover of restaurants and hotels in India was Rs. 43,000 Crores with a growth rate of 15-20% every year.  Of course, this does not include the roadside eateries / Dhabas and other small outlets.  Let us assume that India's current spending in restaurants and other eateries are around Rs.50,000 Crores (as reported to authorities) and I would strongly believe that there will be at least 15% of this as unreported sales.  That's about Rs. 7,500 Crores a year as undisclosed sales (in cash).  Many small roadside eateries and fast food joints do good business and for our estimation let us consider it is only around 50,000 such eateries in the country and each one of them make about Rs.500 a day in profit (cash sales).  That's about Rs. 912 Crores a year in black money.
6. Cinema Industry:  This is another giant of an industry revolving in handling a lot of black money.  Not just the highly paid actors but also the producers and others.  There are private loan sharks who offer finance to the film industry at an exorbitantly high interest rates, as high as 15-20% interest a month.  As of 2017, Indian Film Industry was valued at a Rs. 19,200 Crores.  This is only the official estimate and does not take into consideration the amounts paid and received in black.  It would be very safe to assume that this industry (to the actors, loan sharks, etc.) at least contributes Rs.3,000 to Rs.4,000 Crores a year in black (about 20% of the value of the cinema industry, which is a conservative estimate).
7. Logistics Industry:  In this category, let us forget about all other components of the logistics and concentrate only on the transportation part.  As of 2013, India's road transport network contributed about 4.90% of the country's GDP.  Remember, India's worst growth of GDP was for the FY 2012-13.  If Road Transport industry (mainly private owned as Government owned Road Transport network is very minimal) contributed 4.90% of GDP in FY2012-13, it should be around Rs. 7,43,727 Crores a year.  Let us assume these transport companies have hidden only about 5% of their turnover from the authorities (got paid in cash and didn't declare in the IT returns), it will be around Rs. 37,186 Crores a year.  Again, this is a conservative estimate as number of transportation companies operating in India are quite high.  Refer https://web.iima.ac.in/assets/snippets/workingpaperpdf/12319057932015-12-02.pdf for some good "bedtime reading" prepared by IIM, Ahmedabad to understand the Indian Logistics industry better.
8. Small Businesses: This category is probably the huge in terms of number as I want to cover the corner provision store, tea shop, supermarket, private transportation business (non-goods carrier) and the like.  Let us assume there are only about 1,00,000 such entities in India, who's daily profit is in the range of Rs.500 and do not disclose their actual turnover/profit to the Government.  This alone makes it about Rs. 1,825 Crores a year in black money.

After reading this far, you all would agree that the above are all quite a conservative estimate.  We have not included few other categories of professionals, like doctors, in our calculation above. Without going into any further division of businesses dealing in black money, let us consolidate the above sections of the society and see how much black money is being generated a year.

From above, it is evident that about Rs.25,48,423 Crores of black money is generated and in circulation in a year by the industry.  Looking at the statistics I have provided in my earlier blogs (average black economy in India is estimated at Rs.37,94,530 crores), I now confidently believe that this figure is conservative and I won't be surprised if black money generated in these sectors are much more than what I have estimated here.  As every figures has the keyword "estimated".

Now, as you can evidently see apart from politicians, there are lot of common public involved in creating this black money and we can't keep blaming the Government for everything if we, common public, are involved in creating/helping to create black money.  We, common public, have to understand that black money has very big negative impact on the country's economy and we look up at the Government for everything.  If we need the Government to provide a-z of our needs, then it's our duty to ensure we declare our actual income and pay the government the statutory dues as it generates more revenue.

As a friend of mine said, there's no point in talking about the problems and giving facts and figures to substantiate the problem.  Rather, we need solutions so that black economy has been considerably reduced quickly, which can help the nation in a big way.  Below are the measures I feel the Government and common public can adopt in order to curb this monster which is threatening our country.

• Real Estate - Government should come up with policy of removing the guideline value, market value and such.  If I own a property and I want to sell it for Rs. 2 crores and buyer is willing to pay me that price (even though guideline value is only about Rs.1 crore or so), I should be able to sell it for Rs. 2 crores and register the sale for full amount.  In order to implement this, Government should also reduce the stamp duty for registration of property sale.  Instead of current 7%+1% (in Tamil Nadu), let the Government say the buyer has to pay about 2% of the value of the property.  This will definitely help the common man a lot.  An average person who wants to apply for a loan and buy property (they are the majority in this country) will benefit a lot as banks will give only about 80% of the registered value of the property.  I believe there are quite a few individuals who will agree and will happily do this if implemented by Government.
• Income Tax - The current slab of no tax for income of Rs.2,50,000 or less a year should be raised.  We all know a family of three (husband, wife and a child) cannot live comfortably with an income of about Rs. 21,000 a month, particularly in urban areas.  For example, in Chennai city a decent house will cost you about Rs.8,000 - Rs.10,000 a month in rent.  If you have to pay 50% of your salary/earning a month towards rent, what will be left to run the family?  The system of Income Tax should get a complete overhaul as there are far too many parameters involved.  Let us assume, that I earn about Rs. 25,000 a month and have four dependents and my neighbor earns the same but have only one dependent, is it fair for us both to pay same tax?  I will have to borrow money to pay tax (same applies between same income individuals living in urban and rural area).  So, to be fair on the common public and to generate more revenue to the Government, the system of taxation have to be completely overhauled (many Western countries do follow taxation based on your marital status, dependents, etc.).  This will need a lot of time and energy, even by the Government, but I believe if done, will benefit the Government and common public in the long run and far too many people who evade tax today (because they can't afford it), will happily declare the income and pay. 
• Digital Transactions - Common public should try and use digital payments as much as possible (credit/debit card, online payments, payment gateways like PayTm, Airtel Money, etc.).  If we start this practice with many small outlets like restaurants, supermarkets, etc. we can reduce number of undisclosed transactions by them.  When they collect cash and do not disclose it, they just don't pocket the money we paid for goods but also the taxes they collected with it, so it's double dipping by these establishments.  It's very common that many people have debit/credit cards.  As of January 2018, Indians were having 3.62 crore credit cards and about 84.67 crore debit cards.  In order for public to use Debit/Credit cards more, Government should consider reducing bank charges for usage of debit cards and also lower the minimum balance requirements, even make the SB accounts as zero balance accounts.  Electronic payment options and payment through debit/credit card have increased significantly post demonetization of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes (source: http://www.mbauniverse.com/group-discussion/topic/business-economy/demonetisation).  If we start using electronic payment options more and more, instead of cash, it will reduce black money generation quite considerably.
• No more high denomination currency notes - This may sound ridiculous but actually it will be very useful to do away with Rs.500 and Rs. 2,000 notes.  Rs. 200 note should be the high denomination note of Indian currency.  If we have high denomination note like Rs.2,000 it is very easy to carry Rs.4,00,000 (for example) as you can put 1 bundle of Rs.2,000 note in each pocket of your trousers.  Similarly, in a person's wallet it's very easy to carry around Rs.20K to Rs.50K with high denomination notes.  However, if Rs.200 is the high denomination note, imagine loan sharks roaming around with suitcases to carry Rs. 5 Lakh or so which they want to lend at high interest rates.  Doing this will also reduce the exposure due to fake notes.  If 100 fake notes of Rs.2000 notes enter Indian market, that Rs. 2 Lakhs, whereas this is not possible when high denomination note is only Rs.200.  Also, number of fake currency note printers will reduce as producing lower denomination note to match original quality will be expensive.  USA does not have dollar bill beyond $100.  Euro has only 200Euro note as highest denomination (they are withdrawing 500 Euro bill in circulation this year).
• Regulation on cash withdrawal/deposits in bank account - Government should impose restriction for cash transaction in bank accounts based on the minimum balance maintained by the account holder.  For example, if the average monthly balance in my business account was Rs.1 Lakh, I should not be allowed to withdraw or deposit more than Rs.50K in cash (50% of the minimum balance).  Again, this has to be dynamic depending on the size of the business unit and balance they hold in their account. This way, it can ensure suddenly I do not deposit a large sum of money claiming to be business earning or able to withdraw a huge sum to pay off some 'under the table' transaction.
• Establishing more banking facility - Much more banking channels should be open and accessible to the general public, particularly in rural areas and huge markets in India to make them deposit all cash sales money in their account before leaving the market.  The reason I am suggesting this is, on an average Koyambedu Wholesale market in Chennai (fruits, vegetables, flowers and provision) has a turnover of around Rs. 3 to 4 crores per day.  I would assume at least 90% of this (if not more) is cash sales.  Which means, the traders from this market walk away everyday with about Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 crore in cash!!!! Instead, Government should ask the vendors to deposit the cash daily in their account, which is linked to their PAN and AADHAR.  If one market in the country has cash sales of about Rs. 3 crores a day, imagine what will be amount when we consider overall India.  So, make things easy for vendors to deposit cash and probably even offer some incentive (like subsidy we get for paying fuel bill with debit/credit cards).
• Link all ID's into one - Since AADHAR card has been introduced and have become mandatory for many things, all Government related ID's such as PAN card, Driving License, Voter ID, Debit card and such should be linked to AADHAR.  So, for any transaction all you need is your AADHAR card.  With the current technology, it is not impossible to implement.  If you have multiple bank accounts, you should be given choice at the ATM to choose the account from which you want to withdraw or deposit.  This can also avoid people getting multiple credit cards using various means of address proofs and later not paying the dues to the bank issuing the credit card.

These are just a few major steps we need to take in order to put a clamp on the black money.  It's a huge monster in India and the fight against black money is not going to be an easy one.  If we control the amount of money in circulation in cash, automatically many other things will fall in place as people do not want to hoard huge amount of black money in Rs.100 and Rs.200 denominations.

Now, as I stated earlier, a common man with not much of experience/qualification in economy can suggest some ideas here, doesn't the brilliant minds of economists and financial experts in the Government doesn't know the measures to effectively control the black money?  I believe they do and I think nobody in the political system wants to start this as they are afraid of losing the vote bank as black money hoarders and people circumventing the system to evade taxes are becoming a majority.  So, as I always believe, this revolution against black money should also start from public to force the Government to implement measures to curb black money.

As I mentioned earlier, any economic decision in a vast country like India is not going to happen overnight and we may not see positive results for about two years.  However, given the seriousness of black money in India, it's high time we take these steps to initially control and gradually to eradicate black money.

Black Money in India has gone much deeper into the system.  Efforts to control and remove black money, which has so deeply engrossed in the economy is going to be a very painful process but this painful surgery is much needed to save the patient (Indian economy).

Indian Education System - Are we really educating???

Hello friends... Tremendous support from you all for the last two blogs made me write one more blog with an issue that I've been pondering for a long time...

As I keep reading and hear stories about education, employment opportunities created, etc. I keep wondering are we really educating our younger generation.  The idea of education is to impart knowledge and make the student understand the subject.  Are our schools and colleges really doing it?

This blog can be considered as sequel of my earlier blog about Education Institutions (EI), which can be found at: https://eskay-blogs.blogspot.com/2011/06/which-is-best-school-college.html

The meaning of Education is defined as:

1. the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.
2. the act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills, as for a profession.

Does our EI's really impart knowledge on students or just prepare them as 'textbook' heroes?

The common belief (among students and parents) is that scoring 90%+ is successful education.  If the student is very good with his/her memory, under the current education system, he/she can easily score 90%+.  But does that mean they have gained knowledge in their subjects?  I don't think so.

In June 2017, NASA launched world's smallest satellite designed by a 18 year-old Tamil Nadu student, Rifath Sharook and his team mates.  What a brilliant achievement for a 18 year-old !!!! But he scored only around 65% in science subject during his higher secondary exam.

Purely based on marks (as always happens in Indian colleges/universities), Rifath would have never got an admission to do graduation in Science field.  

What's the status of colleges in India?  Before we see the statistics for entire India, let us see the statistics for Tamil Nadu as TN has more Engineering Colleges than many other states in India. On an average about 1,57,000 students graduate in Engineering field in Tamil Nadu alone.  All over India, it is estimated that about 15,00,000 students graduate in the Engineering field.  So, Tamil Nadu has little more than 10% of Engineering Graduate turnout.

It's amazing we 'produce' about 15 lakh engineering graduates a year... But, does our country has job opportunity for 15 lakh new engineers every year?  

Below is the statistics of students enrolling for graduation courses in India during the last three academic years (data is provided by Union HRD Ministry):

Stream	2016-17	2015-16	2014-15
Arts	97.30 Lakhs	109.40 Lakhs	107.10 Lakhs
Science	47.30 Lakhs	43.80 Lakhs	40.90 Lakhs
Engineering	41.60 Lakhs	42.50 Lakhs	42.20 Lakhs
Commerce	40.00 Lakhs	38.60 Lakhs	37.20 Lakhs
Medical	9.80 Lakhs	8.90 Lakhs	8.10 Lakhs
Management	5.60 Lakhs	5.20 Lakhs	5.10 Lakhs
Law	3.50 Lakhs	3.30 Lakhs	3.02 Lakhs

From the table above it's obvious that about 40+ lakh students enroll for Engineering graduation.  But only about 15+ lakh graduate with degree (graduation data is also from HRD and students with arrears and have not cleared during normal academic year are not considered)... Why such a poor rate of pass percentage?  Are we saying 2/3 of students who enroll are not competent enough to finish Engineering graduation or is it the problem of EI which does not teach/train them adequately.

Couple of incidents made me write this blog now even though I've been thinking a lot about quality of Indian Education in recent times.  The stimuli to write now are:

1. Sun TV runs a quiz program every Sunday afternoon (program name "Thaaya Thaarama" - for details of the program you can watch Sun TV on Sunday 12noon).  Couple of weeks back a guy participated in that program with his mother and wife.  The guy was a professor in a college (owned by his family) and his mother was the Correspondent of that college.  One of the question was about how many letters in Tamil language (total "uyirmei" letters in Tamil).  The guy, his wife and mother all three gave wrong answer.  The host told them that it's very bad that they didn't even know about their own mother tongue.  To follow-up he asked the guy "You are a professor.. So, tell me at least do you know how many vowels are there in English and what are they".  The professor guy just laughed and said he teaches Science in College and not English.  Then the host turned to his mother and said "You are the Correspondent of the College.  At least do you know the answer?".  Her reply was "Even though my title is Correspondent, I actually take care of Repairs & Maintenance and collection of Fee in college and I don't know anything else".
2. The second incident was while a phone call with one my best friends from school time.  While talking about quality of education and all he said that his daughter found that the formula taught by her teacher was wrong and she had the guts to go directly to the Head Master and complain about it.  In front of the child, the HM called the concerned teacher and told her "to learn and understand and teach them".  That's all he said and sent the student and teacher back to class.

I believe, the above two incidents should be a real eye opener for us as to the standard of education and EI's in this country.  First incident clearly indicates that if you have money, you can start a college, call yourself a professor, correspondent, HOD, etc...etc... even though you don't even have the basic knowledge of languages.  Hats off to the director to air this episode without editing (it's not a live show) and exposing them.  If the knowledge of the professor is so bad, what about the students studying in that college?  How do we expect them to be a really qualified graduate who has understood the subject?

In my opinion, the second incident is a big shame on the teaching profession.  A student knows that the formula taught by the teacher is wrong... A teacher, who is supposed to have been graduated in the field they teach (in this case Mathematics) and also have experience in Educating (B.Ed or equivalent) doesn't know that she's teaching incorrect.

Both the incidents cited above are just examples of something I came across recently.  I am sure everyone of us have similar experience which came as shock to us.

The day teaching professional became business instead of "service", I think the quality of education really started plummeting.  Every Tom, Dick and Harry who had money has started schools, colleges and deemed universities.  Our EI's have grown in number very fast but not in quality.

What has really happened due to this?  Most of the students who graduate from a college and could not find a decent job, becomes a teacher/professor/lecturer in the same college he studied.  A guy who just graduated becomes a professor/lecturer.  What experience he has in that field to teach the next generation?  I am sure everyone of us knows somebody who has done this.

Our EI's very happily send out 15+ lakh engineering graduates a year.  Does our country have the ability to give related employment opportunity to 15+ lakh graduates every year?  No.  Absolutely not.  See below example to see the condition of graduates:

Last September, Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) invited application for the post of gangman, gateman, pointsman, porter and helpers.  These are the lowest level jobs within Indian Railways.  For a total of 62,907 vacancies, RRB received application from 1.90 crore applicants (almost 302 applicant for each vacancy).   According to RRB, majority of applicants were Graduates (including Engineering graduates) and post-graduates even though the qualification required for these jobs were mere 10th standard or vocational training certificate.

Visit this site: https://theprint.in/governance/where-are-the-jobs-crores-of-post-graduates-and-engineers-apply-to-be-railway-gangmen/117282/ to see the heart-wrenching numbers.

So, the new standard of EI's have forced the graduates and post-graduates to apply for the lowest level jobs as labors.  Is this the achievement we want for our future generation?

Let us look around among our friends and relatives circle.  How many BE graduates are working in BPO and do a job which is totally unrelated to what they have studied hard for?  Unfortunately and sadly, our country's current ability to create jobs are in labor sector and clerical sector only.  We may give some glorified titles like "Associate, Processing Executive" and such but end of the day the work they do is just clerical.  Why waste parent's money by paying huge fee and capitation and complete your Engineering Degree and end-up working as a clerk?  Rather you could have saved that money for your future and finished some level of degree and still get the same job.

I do not underestimate the value of education in any way.  But all I'm up against is the quality of education in India currently and blind following (and forcing) of and by children to get into Engineering and such when this country cannot provide so many employment opportunities.  Another negative impact of such education with no opportunity to work is the "Brain Drain" this is creating.  This is another huge topic on which a long blog can be written and will be written by me very soon.

Most of the (so called) prestigious universities in the country has cut-off mark of 99% or so for admissions.  What do they expect our children to be?  If anybody who doesn't get cut-off mark of 99% and don't get a seat in such colleges, are we going to brand them as 'stupid'?  A student who gets 85% mark cannot be dumb or stupid.

Anna University in Chennai is currently ranked at 1,069 in the world (as per web site: http://www.webometrics.info/en/Asia/india) and the cut-off mark they expect is 99% or more.  So if we find a college or university in India which is ranked among top 100 in the World, what would be the cut-off?  300%??

For detailed cut-off mark (again it changes depending on the caste and community you belong to - another sorry state of Indian education thanks to reservation based on community and caste) for Anna University and other affiliated colleges can be found at:  https://info.tnea.ac.in/tinfo/district.php

About ten days back, Tamil Nadu Government has decided to shut down about 600+ primary schools across Tamil Nadu.  Reason?  There were only 10 or less students in these schools.  These schools are in rural areas.  If these schools shut down, how will the children get their education?  Given the financial strength of rural families, they will not be able to send their children to nearby town or village for education.  

Government's argument is that it's not "feasible" to run schools with lower students strength.  This is purely money oriented.  The schooling system started with "Gurukuls".  The Guru didn't bother if only one disciple he had or hundred.  It was Guru's service to the society to teach the disciple.  If Government doesn't want to run schools because of the financial losses, how will poor children get even basic education?  What's the future of those students?  Government cannot think Education is business.  The whole education system is rotting because it's considered as business.

When the craze for Engineering studies started, every parent wanted their children to be an engineer and demand for Engineering Colleges and admission into the Engineering Faculty craze began.  Money monsters with money and political power started colleges in every nook and corner of the country.  The quantity increased rapidly without any quality.

The solution to this is not an easy one and will not happen overnight.  Parents and students should think about the future and decide on what to study.  If we produce 15+ lakh engineering graduates every year, does this country have enough companies and infrastructure to employ this 15+ lakh engineers?  Then, why keep running behind the Engineering field.

So, how did all this start?  Who's to be blamed?  As general public, we have created far too many monsters in our society and now when things are looking bleak, we are worried and also afraid to fight the monsters we have created.  I may soon write a blog on such monsters created by us, which is biting our behind and also eating away our country.  As general public, we are responsible for almost every mishap as we have knowingly and unknowingly created a lot of monsters.

What we can do?  Almost every year about 30% of Engineering seats in  colleges across Tamil Nadu remains unfilled.  Parents and students should avoid colleges that do not have basic amenities and good teaching faculty.  This will force the colleges to be shut down.  Even when the student cannot get what they wanted, go for the second best choice from a better EI.   Again, this is not going to happen overnight or within an academic year.  This is a slow process where colleges with lesser amenities and staff will be eradicated and only good standard colleges will survive.

God willing, when this happens, both students and parents, should not fall into the craze of Engineering or other branches like a swarm of bees attacking.  Leave it to your children to decide what they want to do and guide them accordingly.  Parents (and students) should never go with what's popular in the market.  This is not choosing our clothing or something else.  This is the future of our children and future of younger generation of this nation.  This 'going with trend' has gotten us into such a big mess with so many colleges with poor to no amenities and highly in-competent staff, which has resulted in this grave situation of our education system.  I believe we have already spoiled at least two generation of youngsters with degrees but no in-depth knowledge about the subject.

Why the status of Engineering studies and Engineering graduates has come to this pitiful situation?  Is Engineering new to India and Indians?  Absolutely not... Ancient Indians have excelled in Engineering, Architecture, Study of space and planets and Science.  Some wonderful creations by Indian in these fields include:

• Floating Shiva Linga in Somnath temple.  This temple is first of the Jyothir Linga temples in India.  Nobody really knows when the temple was actually built with the floating Shivalingam.  It is believed that the second time it was built around 649 CE.  To know more about this temple visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somnath_temple
• Iron pillar of Delhi.  This was erected in 3rd to 4th century (around 1,700 years ago) in honor of Hindu God Vishnu by Chandragupta II (King of Gupta Empire).  This iron pillar is famous for it's composition, which prevents it from rusting even though it is erected in open area.
• Tanjore Bhrahadeesware Temple - Built by Raja Raja Cholan between 1003 and 1010 AD.  This temple is now considered UNESCO World heritage site.  More than 1,000 years ago the temple was built utlizing Axial and Symmetrical Geometry rules.  More about this temple can be found at:  http://www.findmytemple.com/en/thanjavur/t156-tanjore-big-temple
• Chidambaram Natarajar Temple - Built in 9th century.  A lot of research was going on about the temple as to why it's considered so important by Ancient Indians.  After years of R&D, finally the scientists agree that the point at which Natarajar's big toe (the main idol in the temple) is situated is the center point of Earth's Magnetic Equator.  How did our people find out the exact center point of Earth's Magnetic Equator some 1,200 years ago without any scientific advances we have today?
• The Eight Shiva temples built on same Longitude.  Out of this eight, three temples in Chidambaram, Kancheepuram and Sri Kalahasthi are aligned in exact straight line position. These three temples are at least 1,000 years old when there were no satellite imaging technology available.  These are truly an Engineering, Astrological and Geographical wonder (refer this site for more details:  http://www.mysteryofindia.com/2015/12/ancient-hindu-temples-straight-line.html)

Engineering, Architecture, Astronomic studies, Science, Mathematics, etc. was never a challenge for Ancient Indians.  Indeed Indians contributed a whole lot to the world on these fields and were really the pioneers who mastered these Sciences.  From such a big heritage were our Ancestors excelled and lead the way in these fields, what are we doing to our younger generation?

I know the blog is getting long... But to educate today's generation of what our Ancestors achieved without any advanced instruments or science available today is really amazing and should make us all feel proud that we are indeed the pioneers for modern science.  Below 10 facts will amaze you how accurate, intelligent and advanced ancient Indians were:

1.   Sushruta Samhita, the oldest medical and surgical encyclopedia known to Mankind - Written during  the 6th century BC, the Sushruta Samhita contains 184 chapters with descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparations based on animal sources. Its author Sushruta is also considered to be the first ever human to perform medical surgeries on humans. The book also has vast details on embryology, human anatomy, along with instructions for venesection, the positioning of the patient for each vein, and the protection of vital structures (marma). The oldest documented evidence (9000 years) for the drilling of human teeth of a living person was found in Mehrgarh along with the evidences of orthopedic surgeries.   

2.   The first ones to acknowledge the existence of the Solar System -While history credits Copernicus for proposing the heliocentric model of our solar system, it was the Rig Veda that first noted the central placement of the sun and other planets orbiting it in the solar system. 

Rig Veda 1.164.13 - “Sun moves in its orbit which itself is moving. Earth and other bodies move around sun due to force of attraction, because sun is heavier than them.”

Rig Veda 1.35.9 - “The sun moves in its own orbit but holding earth and other heavenly bodies in a manner that they do not collide with each other through force of attraction.” 

3.    Mahabharata mentions the concept of cloning, test tube babies and surrogate mothers - The fact that in the Mahabharata, Gandhari had 100 sons is pretty well known. But what’s unknown is the scientific explanation behind her giving birth to a 100 kids. Each ‘Kaurava’ was created by splitting the single embryo into 100 parts and growing each part in a separate kund (container). This is identical to the cloning process today. The birth of Karan, who was ‘born from the “characteristics adopted from men of her choice” also has striking resemblance to the present-day test tube baby concept.  

4.    Hanuman Chalisa precisely calculates the distance between Earth and Sun

“Yug sahasra yojana par bhanu, leelyo taahi madhura phal jaanu” 

The above excerpt is from the Hanuman Chalisa and translates to: ‘[When] Hanuman travelled thousands of kilometers to swallow it thinking of it as a fruit’. The word-to-word translation of the same excerpt reveals the distance that Hanuman travelled. 

1 Yuga = 12000 years. 1 Sahsra Yuga = 12000000 years. Also, 1 Yojan = 8 miles. 

Hence, “Yug Sahsra Yojana”, the first 3 words mean 12000*12000000*8 = 96000000 miles or 153,600,000 kilometers. Interestingly, the actual distance from earth to sun is 152,000,000 kms. Astonishingly, there’s error of just around 1%. 

5.    Indian Vedas figured out Gravity before the West did.   

      Yet again, way before Isaac Newton explained gravity, ancient Indian scholars had already figured out how it worked.  
      
      Rig Veda 10.22.14 - “This earth is devoid of hands and legs, yet it moves ahead. All the objects over the earth also move with it. It moves around the sun.”

6.    We already knew about the speed of light

Sayana, a vedic scholar from the 14th century once said, "With deep respect, I bow to the sun, who travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesha." A yojana is 9 miles; a nimesha is 16/75 of a second. Therefore, 2,202 yojanas x 9 miles x 75/8 nimeshas = 185,794 miles per second or 2,99,000 kilometers per second. That’s astonishingly close to the real ‘scientifically-proven’ 3,00,000 kilometers per second figure. It’s often believed that his source was none other than the Vedas. 

7.    Vedas explained the science behind the rather ‘feared’ eclipses

While the world feared the eclipses and associated all types of paranormal occurrences with the phenomenon, Vedas already had a very proper and scientific explanation. The below excerpt is also proof that they knew that the moon wasn’t self illuminated.   

Rig Veda 5.40.5 - “O Sun! When you are blocked by the one whom you gifted your own light (moon), then earth gets scared by sudden darkness.”

8.     They knew the exact length of a year

Ancient Indians used 4 ways to measure the length of a year namely ‘Nakshatra’, ‘Savana’, ‘Lunar’ and ‘Saura’. Saura was one method based on the tropical zodiac that defines the seasons: equinoxes, solstices, year-halves, and months in relation to the (six) seasons. As unbelievable as it sounds, Saura estimates the length of a year to be exactly 365 days, 6 hours 12 mins and 30 seconds.

9.    Aryabhatta’s deduction of the value of Pi

 According to documented history, the irrationality of pi was proved in Europe only in 1761 by Lambert. The great Indian mathematician Aryabhata worked on the approximation of the value of pi, and concluded that is irrational and its value is approximately 3.1416. He did this in 499 CE at the age of 23.

10.  First ones to measure the circumference of Earth

Sadly, the Greeks enjoy the credit for this discovery while it was actually Aryabhata, who deduced a formulation proving that the Earth is rotating on an axis. Then, by estimating the value of pi to be 3.1416, he concluded that the circumference of Earth was approximately 39,736 kilometers. The actual circumference of Earth, as deduced by scientists today, is 40,075 kilometers.

The recent craze (after Engineering) is being a Chartered Accountant.  If I meet 10 guys who just finished High School, at least 6 of them say they want to pursue Commerce and Accounts and appear for CA entrance exam.  This CA craze is the new breed of Engineering craze.  In another 10 years, every company may have to employ about 10 CA's so that these people will not fall in the "unemployed CA" category.  Another shocking recent trend is students taking a break during second year of graduation to pursue and finish CA... Is this the right approach? I am not too sure and if anybody can enlighten me on this, I would be really happy.

We force our dreams and ambitions into our children.  If our dream was to become an engineer or scientist and couldn't do it, is it fair on our part to force it on our children?  Every human being have their own dream and desire to do something with their life.  As parents, we should ensure their dream is realistic, achievable and then guide them in that direction so that they don't fail.

World's first university was established by us, Indians.  The first university was University of Takshashila, details of which are below:

As early as 700 B.C., there existed a giant University at Takshashila, located in the northwest region of Bharat(India).

Taxila also known as Takshashila, flourished from 600 BC to 500 AD, in the kingdom of Gandhar. 68 subjects were taught at this university and the minimum entry age, ancient texts show, was 16. At one stage, it had 10,500 students including those from Babylon, Greece, Syria, and China. Experienced masters taught the vedas, languages, grammar, philosophy, medicine, surgery, archery, politics, warfare, astronomy, accounts, commerce, documentation, music, dance and other performing arts, futurology, the occult and mystical sciences,complex mathematical calculations. 

The panel of masters at the university included legendary scholars like Kautilya, Panini, Jivak and Vishnu Sharma. Thus, the concept of a full-fledged university was developed in India.

When most of the Western World and today's developed nations were in Primitive stages and hunting, we built an University (the concept of University to teach varied subjects under one roof was Indian) and taught students in diverse subjects.

Aren't we all proud that we established the world's first university and at one stage (in those ancient days, when traveling across was difficult) had 10,500 students who studied varied subjects in a single university?  But what's the current status of Indian Education Institutions?  We don't even feature in the top 500 in the World.  What a tragic way to destroy our heritage and now our future generations are running abroad to get better quality education.

Unfortunately, current education system is not working on the principle of 'imparting knowledge' but making money as business unit.  Sadly, even the parents and students are looking for EI's which has good placement records (even if not in the desired sector) so that they can earn right after graduation.  Most of us has stopped bothering about knowledge we gain than look at what we can earn after such education.

With the current situation of graduates being getting qualified in branches were we cannot provide employment, there may be a day when our "Swiggy" delivery person be a "B.E degree holder", Amazon delivery person a Post-Graduate in Science and Big Basket delivery person may be a Ph.D holder.   Even though this thought sounds cruel, looking around us at youngsters working in totally unrelated sector gives a scary feeling that this is a possibility in future.

Swami Vivekananda said "We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet".  Can we honestly cross our heart and say our EI's today do this?