President’s Message
Dear Friends,
Very warm greetings.
On November 26th, we had another wonderful meeting in the afternoon. It was a special occasion to recognise, honour and felicitate our very own PP Rtn. MK Sanghi (popularly known as Mahendrabhai) on his being awarded the ‘Pravinchandra Gandhi Award for Excellence in Public Life’. The event was further enhanced with the presence of his charming wife, Rtn. Ptn. Mrs. Manju and members of the Sanghi family. The Prime Minister of India, since quite some time, has been speaking about two things. First, ease of doing business and second, ease of living in India.
The World Bank carries out an annual survey of countries for ‘Ease of Doing Business’. As being one of the contributors for such survey for the last several years, I am happy to note that over the last few years, India has been improving its global position in ranking in this area.
What about the second viz. ‘Ease of Living’?
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India launched the ‘Ease of Living Index’ on August 13th, 2018, which aims to assess the ease of living of citizens in our cities, across three pillars of (i) quality of life, (ii) economic ability; and (iii) sustainability, spread across 14 categories and which has now been taken to the next level by launching an even more comprehensive frame work for ‘Ease of Living’ in 2019. Many of us at RCB have been fortunate and privileged to travel abroad and one thing that strikes us – is the ‘ease of doing things and getting things done’, which then sub-consciously or consciously makes us wonder about the state of affairs in our country, on ‘Ease of Living’. The simplest of things require a lot of effort, a great deal of time, complex and complicated
requirements, which leave us drained, agitated, and dissatisfied. It’s time that we, as citizens of this great and uniquely diverse country, join in, participate and contribute to this initiative in a meaningful way and with a positive attitude, irrespective of the final outcomes.
Let us not say, ‘they don’t listen’, let’s not say ‘chalta hai’; instead, let us say ‘we will make them listen’.
We, as active Rotarians and Rotarian Partners, are familiar with the Rotary 4 way test in which one of the questions of the things – we think, say or do is – ‘will it be beneficial to all concerned’ and one of 5 the Avenues of Services Rotary is ‘Community Service’.
Also, we, as citizens and residents of India, require to send to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India with regard to State, Central and local governments and authorities, written suggestions on solutions to issues and problems, which can help in smoothen life and make progress in ‘Ease of Living’ a reality, not only in our cities, but also throughout our country. I would urge each one to play our role as responsible and
concerned citizens.
Preeti Mehta
President