GDP+1!

It is bewildering to see for no good reason people manning/posted to oversee things that are best left to machines. Many companies in India have security guys posted at the entry gates to check the badges of the employees when entering the campus/building. Sometimes there is one before the gate and another after; just in case! No idea why an automatic badge reader could not be installed instead. It gets hilarious when sometimes you have a badge reader and still a person around to see whether everyone is flashing the badge or not. We still do not trust either the man or machine. So we end up putting a machine to check the man and a man to check the machine.

And it does not end there. You would see a guy manning every lift of this country (sitting on a ramshackle chair and pressing buttons all day), one person for every coffee vending machine (just helping with the cup, sugar, milk ...) in this country, two or sometimes three policemen on a traffic junction when all that is required is a working traffic signal post. I can go on and on .... Go for a function, if it is a buffet meal, you can count a person behind each dish offered. Don't know whether it is to help with the food and to protect the food (you know what I mean) ! Is all this in the name of employment? Far from it, this is gross inefficiency. On the otherhand if it is in the name of personalized service, we have better things to take care of like providing access facilities to a physically challenged/hearing-challenged etc. None of the public buildings have anything to take care of such genuine needs.

If the intent is to generate employment for the less-privilged, we should better focus our energies on imparting to these people some real skills that will guarantee more productive employment. Just imagine all these people entering productive employment and contributing to the nation. GDP will sure gain a minimum of 1 percentage point.

We are a nation of cess charges; why not add one for employment and contribute to a national fund for employment. I will do my bit as well.