Dear Law School Administration

Dear Law School Administration,

There are two types of students that you can meet in life, law students and others. Please be very afraid of the first kind as they are the sharpest, meanest and the most bored form of student that you will ever have to face. 

Why you ask? 

Well, here are a few reasons:

1. Smallest of problems will be held as 'violating our fundamental Right to Life'. The bathrooms are far away and sometimes don't have water? Fudge you, that's my fundamental right you are violating. 
2. Everything that is done by you without absolute transparency is arbitrary. You choose a room on the third floor as your cabin when all other related offices are on the first floor? That's totally arbitrary.
3. If the students don't like it, it is probably unreasonable. 
4. We are looking for a fight. Give us the slightest opportunity and we will come charging towards you like a bull comes towards a matador with a red flag. 
5. We will threaten to file a PIL for everything. You threw out my favorite guard? See you in court!
6. Quoting case laws during all conversation comes naturally to us. It's our bread and butter. So if you don't understand them then don't give us the O.o look. 
7. Most of us have a better command over the English language than other non-law students. Maybe its because we are used to drafting stuff or because we read a lot of books. We can write simple stuff in a complex way and also simplify complex stuff. Email and Facebook comment wars are one of our hobbies. 
8. We are not just argumentative. We are bloody good at it. It is not a surprise considering how much practice we get. We can argue about *everything* from Messi to Madonna to Mulayam Singh Yadav to Mumbai Indians.
9. Reaching a consensus is not a possibility. Atleast not for the first 5 hours of the discussion. So next time you ask for our opinion, take out sufficient time. 
10. It might seem like we don't pay attention in class but we magically remember all the lessons from class when we need to use them in arguments with faculties. "Sir, you only taught us arbitrariness and abuse of dominant position."
11. Didn't give me an opportunity to justify myself when you caught me using my cell phone in class? Well, you can't punish me. You violated principles of natural justice by not giving me a chance. Lawyered!
12. Precedent is effectively used. If you did or did not do something about an incident some years ago, we will hold you to it and make sure you do it in the exact same way. Unless ofcourse we are benefiting from the change!
13. "You don't have the authority to do this." Yes, this is one of our favorite lines. 
14. We possess the amazing ability to argue both for and against a fact. 
15. If everything else fails, we will always have humanitarian grounds as our backup option. 

So, if you think you can mess with us and get away with it? All we have to say is: 

P.S. - All law school administrators who are reading this, this is not a threat or something. No intention to offend anyone. These are just a few points law school administrators need to take care while managing students with this specific skill set. If you still find it offensive then well, there's nothing much you can do about it. :P

Subsidies are injurious to health

Contrary to popular opinion, subsidies do more harm than good.

This is even more true in a country like India where corruption is commonplace and inefficiency is a major problem in the government. Our government gives subsidies for all the wrong reasons. These subsidies do everything other than helping the target group. I should make it clear that by subsidies I don't mean just monetary let offs. I also mean 'welfare' schemes of the government. Giving free housing, loan waivers, subsidized electricity and reservations in educational institutes is all a part of subsidies. 

The government is so busy trying to redistribute income that it has almost forgotten about generating income in the first place. 

Take NREGA for example. It is called a 'You dig, I fill' scheme. The government pays people to dig up an area and then pays a few other people to fill it up. This is their way of giving away money while showing that they are working towards improving rural infrastructure. 

The problem is, this is all manual labour. They don't teach skills. Workers who get 100 days of employment are still sitting idle for the rest of the 200 days. There is no improvement in their ability. These people get jobs because they are entitled to a job and not because they deserve a job. 

The point being, if government gave training instead of subsidies, it would be much more useful to these people. We all know that its better to teach a man fishing than giving him a fish. Leave the creating jobs part to the private sector. If the government can make the unemployed people employable then that will be a big feat in itself. 

The world thinks that India has cheap labour. You can get people to do household chores and stuff for a fraction of a price that you have had to pay in foreign countries. This is infact a myth. Our labour class is almost as expensive as any other country. It's just that we pay for it in two ways. First, we pay them their salary which is direct income for them and then we pay taxes which are used to literally give away money to these people. So in the end, government is just a middleman. A middleman who has a huge opportunity to be corrupt and who has used this opportunity to its full extent. The problem is not expensive labour. The problem is that, due to this government interference, citizens have to pay more taxes but the money doesn't reach the labour class. Hence, both sides are unhappy and this leads to a problem of high taxes and poverty at the same time. 

So why not remove subsidies all together?

Let the citizens pay a high price for labour but reduce their tax burden. This way, the labour class can lead a better life and money can be effectively utilised. Ofcourse, corruption goes down as well. It's a win win situation. 

Unfortunately, the corrupt government workers are the only ones that don't win. Politians won't be able to use it as a 'vote gathering' activity. People responsible for distributing these subsidies won't be able to get their share. 

So, the next time you hear about a subsidy being dolled out, remember the fact that its your money they are giving away. You are going to pay for it in one way or another. Don't vote for the guy who gave the maximum number of subsidies. Vote for the guy who makes subsidies redundant. 

Cheers

What does 51% FDI in multi-brand retail mean?

       

What happened: 

Government has decided to allow 51% FDI in Multi-brand retails. 

What are the pre-conditions: 

• Minimum investment of $100 million.
• 50% of the investment is to be in backend infrastructure development.  
• 30% of all raw material has be procured from small and medium industries. [Not completely sure]
• Permission to set up malls only in cities with a minimum population of 10 lakh.
• Government has the first right to procure material from the farmers.
• Products should be sold under the same brand internationally.
• Foreign investor should be the owner of the brand.

Present Condition:

• Farmers get only 10 to 15% of the price we pay. 
• 3-4 middlemen in between farmers and customers.
• Huge post produce losses for farmers due to inadequate facilities.
• A poorly managed food supply infrastructure.

Why do we need it:

• We are the second highest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world but still we are not able to utilise is properly because of inadequate infrastructure facilities. 
• It will reduce pre-harvest wastage/losses and thus help control food inflation. 
• It will create 1.5 million more jobs in 5 years. Apart from the huge number of indirect employment. 
• It will increase competition which is always beneficial for the customer.
• It will remove the middleman from the equation. It will reduce costs which in turn will reduce prices. 

What about the problems:

There will be no problems.

We already have local players like Reliance Fresh and Big Bazaar. They have done wonderfully well. Local traders are still trading as they were. Why not allow foreign players? They will bring with them human/monetary/knowledge capital which are very important for a developing country like India. Just bringing proper storage places will go a long way in solving the wastage problem. 

China, Brazil, Argentina, Singapore, Chile, Thailand, Russia and Indonesia all allow 100% and their economies have benefited from this move. India is only allowing 51% and that too with a lot of checks. 

We don't have to worry about monopoly because the Competition Commission of India can handle all anti competitive practices including predatory pricing. 

In India, cities with population of more than 10 lakh are just 53 in number. This means that any negative impact will not have huge repercussions. Kirana store walas in majority of other cities cities will be totally unaffected. It's a small but steady step on the path of liberalization. 

It will decrease unorganized labour sector and bring them all under organised labour. This will it will be easier to enforce labour laws and also check its implementation. 

A lot of jobs will be created. Ofcourse a few will be lost as well but that number will not be very high. There will be a reorganization of the job structure rather than a reduction. 

It is true that the government can also provide all the infrastructure facilities that the companies will provide but  true governance means less government role and more freedom to the society. Why should it be a problem if companies improve infrastructure facilities in return of a gain? 

Thus we can see that the FDI rule is for the greater good of the society. Oppose it at your own risk. 

"I can't afford an internship." : A take on Unpaid Internships in India

Internships.

Arguably the most important part of a student's CV. 

Internships in India are hard to get in spite of there being so many law firms, companies, NGOs, LPOs and other such organisations. An internship at a 'reputed' place is like a star on the CV. If you have 5 or more stars then you either have a CGPA worth killing for or are an awesome jugaadu. 

Whatever be the reason, I can safely say that internships are very very important. Not just from the CV point of view. Also from the experience of the practical experience of a specific field. 

In India, majority of the internships are unpaid. 

So, students get: cut throat competition, shady PGs to stay in, work during vacations, time away from parents and home city, rigorous office hours and NO PAY. 

Organisations get: FREE labor, temporary clerks/secretaries and no responsibility. 

A majority of the students are not from the metros but most of the internship places are in metros. It means, students have to spend money on travelling to the city, accommodation, food, travelling to the office and other misc expenses. All this and what do we get in return? Experience? Knowledge? Chance to get coffee for the boss? Chance to pass around files? Old cases to read? 

Just because interns are not 'workers' and do not have a union of sorts, organisations feel that they can exploit them. Interns are not given enough importance. They are students who are facing a lot of difficulty and trying to learn and sustain themselves. The least organisations can do is dedicate an hour a day to actually teach them something and pay them something which can offset their expenses for that time duration. 

LegallyIndia pays its interns Rs. 10k/month. It is seen as a very 'handsome' amount. Considering what other organisations in India pay (or don't pay), yes but not quite handsome when you consider the expenses of staying in Bombay for a month. It just covers all expenses which in the present Indian scenario is a very big thing. 

I have heard interns being paid Rs. 2k for a 6 week internship in Delhi. Yea, 2k might just cover food expenses for that time. So effectively, the intern is spending money to do free work.

I can understand non-profits not paying their interns. Although its not completely alright, but its understandable. They have their own fund raising problems. But firms/companies who work for profit should pay their interns. 

It doesn't matter if you get work done from the intern or not. You are calling him/her to your office and he/she is incurring expenses because of you. You have all the right to get work done from them. Make them do substantial work so that they can actually learn and contribute and rightfully earn their stipend. 

There are always things that interns can do. Maybe not a first year or a second year student but definitely from third year onwards students are well trained and can surely reduce some work load of the employees. They deserve to be paid. 

Unfortunately, interns fall into the unorganised category of the free labour sector. 

A lot needs to change. Some organisations are starting to understand this. A lot more are still not sensitive enough to understand this problem. Not paying interns is not illegal but in my view, it is unethical. 

Dear organisations,

There are so many brilliant students out there who are willing to work for 12 hours a day but are unable to do so because they cannot afford an internship. Pay your interns. Make them work. They'll contribute to your organisation in a small way. They will spread the word if you treat them well. 

Sincerely,

A student looking for an internship in Delhi for May-June2012. 

Survey on changing career choices of law students

An independent survey of 100 law students of India was conducted. They were asked 5 simple questions. 

1. What college are you in?

2. Are you in the 3 year course of the 5 year course?

3. What year are you in?

4. When you joined law school, what were you planning on doing after it?

5. At this moment, what are your plans after law school?

This was to find out what are the career goals of students when before they join law school and how much do they change. 

The results were very interesting. 

Students from various colleges like Gujarat National Law University, GLC, UILS, NUJS, NLU Jodhpur, Army Institute of Law, NLU Delhi, Nirma University, NALSAR, NLSIU, LA Shah college and Amity Law School participated in the survey. 

Out of the 100 participants, only 3 were from the 3 year course and the rest were from the 5 year course. So the scope of the survey is reduced. 

What year students took the survey?

[Click on the image to view it in full screen.]

What were student's choice of career before they joined law school?

[Click on the image to view it in full screen.]

The 'Others' option got responses like, United Nations, Journalism, Software development and No idea. 

What were the student's choice of career at this moment?

[Click on the image to view it in full screen.]

The 'Others' option got responses like,Writing, Journalism, Business, Software development, Investment Banking, Policy making.


Analysis:

1. LPO's were given as an option but were not selected by any participant although a lot of students end up joining LPOs.

2. No one wanted to become a faculty.

3. As time progresses, the 'others' option becomes more specific. This is because students keep coming across new options and decide to move away from traditional careers. It can also be interpreted as saying, student choose traditional careers because they are not aware about other options.

4.  All the options might seem to have only minor changes but the one thing that unfortunately the survey cannot show is how the options of students have changed over the years.

A staggering 66% of the students changed their career option after joining law school. "Whoa!" That was all I could say when I first saw the survey results.


It's not easy to make a career choice. It becomes even more difficult when there are 15 different choices to choose from. Students need to stop following the herd. It creates meaningless competition and unhappy employees. Follow your dream. Work on something that makes you happy. Don't try to be 'safe', try to be yourself. Money is not everything in this world, personal satisfaction is.

If you have an interesting story about how you decided to change your career option after joining law school then feel free to share.  :)

P.S.- This is my first online survey. Sorry for the mistakes that might be there. I will try to improve next time. Leave your constructive suggestions in the comments below.