Shivaji Maharaj on Currency Notes

Recently a message about it spread like wild fire on mobile networks. Apparently it was a signature campaign of sorts generated by RBI. Every Maharashtrian  took pride in forwarding this message further to garner more and more support. However there was a query questioning the merit or demerit of this campaign. Let me make an attempt to put my perspective on this issue.

Initially our currency notes carried King George photos till independence. Why the ashok sthamba replaced the king George photo has a rationale and a solid reason, and it does not need any explanation.

But, How Gandhi replaced Ashoka Sthamba is a big question. At Least Ahok Sthamba was and still is the symbol of RBI. So logically there was no harm in continuing with it.

RBI must have, certainly under the influence of Congress Ruled Government in that period , brought about this change and replaced the ashoka sthamba by Gandhi's photo. There is no certainty about who christened Gandi as Father of the Nation.

No doubt he stands tall in the list of freedom fighters and other Indians, but certainly he is not the only one.  B R Ambedkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Subhash Chandra Bose, Ravindra Nath Tagore, Maharana Pratap, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Veer Savarkar , Maulana Azad, Guru Gobind Singh, Sant Tukaram & Sant Dyasneshwar etc are few names from a endless list of individuals who played equal roles in the History of India.

So I strongly feel that they all should have been given their due respect and recognition by all, including the RBI. It will be apt and appropriate to commemorate these Indians, recognize their selfless contribution and show respect. Commemoration acts as a reminder to a common citizen.

It would have therefore been befitting if the RBI had set up a committee to formulate a policy about printing currency notes with their photos, much like the postal department does to commemorate these People, and continue with currency notes with Ahok Stambh as a regular currency.

There is always a danger of denigration, misuse show of disrespect of the currency notes , Statues, Road Signs in their names, but then there is a system to take punitive action against miscreants. We should not stop doing certain things just for the fear of such wrongdoings. That in my opinion is cowardice.

After all lord krishna says " karmanye wa Dhikaraste Ma phaleshu Kadachanam  ".

It is altogether a different issue that the RBI has now deferred its decision. But certainly the time has come now to stop eulogizing M K Gandhi alone.

Open Letter to Shri Nitin Gadkari

The Pune  - Mumbai Express way is a death trap of sorts. Government has been doing many things of late, but still it is missing on smaller and simpler but effective means to curb accidents.

It is known that the lane discipline is not at all followed in the country so how can we talk about it for this road. But looking at the number of deaths on such expressways certain things can certainly be done as under:

The heavy vehicles should be limited to left most section of the road. You can put height barricades at certain intervals on the right side , install CC TV cameras at various locations, at least on the accident prone section of the ghat on the road and put heavy penalty to begin with followed by temporary or permanent cancellation of driver license or owner's permit depending on number of violations.

I tell you this will give you immediate results.

Similarly the lighting in the tunnels is anything but satisfactory. Combination of LED & Sodium Vapor Lights and increased number will help in a great way. Similarly the internal walls on the tunnels should be painted with white fluorescent paint and there should be curbing with lights on each side like you see on the runways at airport.

Again these are simple and doable things.

I am a retired professional project engineer and i am ready to help the ministry in improving safety of roads throughout the country, free of cost if my travel and stay is taken care off. choice is yours.

This letter is sent today on his e mail id: nitin.gadkari@nic.in