The Hindu : New Delhi News : Inside delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Inside delhi

Earthy business solutions

Managing the distribution of over 2 lakh “dabbas” on a daily basis surely requires a little out of the “box” thinking. It is this innovative yet firmly grounded brand of business acumen that has made the Mumbai “dabbawalas” a business model to be emulated by management students across the country.

Invited to the Capital this past week by the Indian Institute of Planning and Management to educate its students in their effective but earthy business solutions, “dabbawalas” have hoisted their once amateurish venture to the status of being an ideal example of a harmoniously run business, one that is a regular part of “case studies” at premier B-schools. Now, accorded with an ISO and “six sigma” certification, this lunch box delivery network that forms the gastronomical network of Mumbai’s working class functions like a well-oiled machine that was set in motion over 116 years back.

To ensure that the box of chicken curry is delivered to “Mr. Ghosh” and the parcel of butter “naans” to “Mr. Chabra”, all well in time for their luncheon or supper, is not an easy task when one considers the logistics involved in getting everything just right for the huge number of “dabbas” being delivered every day.

According to “dabbawalas” Chief Executive Officer Pawan Aggarwal, over 85 per cent employees in his company are uneducated. Not such a remarkable feat in a country, one might think, where the reins of development are largely in the hands of people with questionable academic credentials.

Kunal Diwan

DMRC’s minor oversights

When it comes to managing traffic and general discipline on the Capital’s roads, Delhi Metro railway has over the years done a fantastic job. But minor oversights can sometime create problems for road users who otherwise drive with assurance around construction sites of the Delhi Metro.

In this particular case, it appears that trucks carrying fly ash for filling up land along the Metro corridor from Indraprastha towards Laxmi Nagar are not careful while driving down the Akshardham Setu and the rail over-bridge towards Vikas Marg.

This past week, road users had to contend with fly ash spilled on Akshardham Setu and on the rail over-bridge ahead of it. The flying ash creates a near complete haze on the road making it difficult for road users to negotiate through it. The situation becomes all the more difficult as there are diversions near Akshardham. Further, such a “haze” can create problems when fog descends during night.

So far, no untoward incident has been reported in that stretch due to the “haze” caused by fly ash, but it would be better if those at the helm would ensure that such things don’t happen endangering the lives of motorists.

Prashant Pandey

What attitude!

If there is anything that works with the Delhi police it is being with the media, or just about. This is something that a fellow journalist discovered a fortnight ago when there was a spate of all-night “jagrans” in East Delhi. The journalist’s wife first called up “100” to lodge a complaint against the loudspeakers that were blaring beyond permissible limits even after 11 p.m. After three phone calls to the cops had no effect on the volume of the “music”, the scribe was compelled to call up again and she was given a complaint number and assured that the sound would be lowered “soon”.

This “soon” worked out to be another hour during which time he got two phone calls from what he presumed were beat cops wanting to know the exact location of the noise. Now if the policemen had ventured out and stood outside this journalist’s housing society (the address for which was provided three times) there was no way that they would not have heard the blaring music.

Finally, the sound did get lower marginally and that too for only a couple of hours. By 4 a.m. the sound was as loud as it had been to begin with. Repeated attempts by the journalist to get in touch with the senior officers were met with the standard reply – all calls made to “100” are passed on to the local police station after which it becomes its responsibility to deal with the problem.

The “jagran” meant one sleepless night for the residents of the area, but one can’t help but think about the plight of someone with a more serious problem if this is the attitude of the police in the city.

Staff Reporter

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