What makes New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong or Paris different from a Baghdad, Kampala, or Johannesburg. Simple, it’s image. While you likely to get shot at in the streets of Big Apple or the back alleys South African capital, it’s the frequency or barbarity that makes the difference. Same goes when a bomb goes off in Baghdad or our own Hyderabad.
I was amused to hear the other day, that the state government is planning to spend about 30 crores of tax payers money in refurbishing the image of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. While that may be music to the ears of media houses, it calls for a bigger question. Do we need to spend money to let the world know that we are a safe place ? Do we need to draw the attention of the world to our problems or let them fade into obscurity ? How does one determine the attractiveness of the city ?
Questions that beget more answers. It’s not wide roads or beautiful parks that present the image of a city. Far from it. It’s elements like Garbage disposal, Storm water drains, Sanitation, Public Transport that makes or break the image. So a slick 30 second commercial or a glossy half page colour ad will not make an investor put in his hard money. An investing company looks for freebies and incentives that will make their project viable. Uttarakhand or Hyderabad, money goes where it gets returns.
YS Rajashekara Reddy and his team should desist from these frivolous acts and get real. The Chief Minister should instead pick up the phone and speak to the Microsoft top brass and reassure them that it’s business as usual. He should make sure that his department secretaries to stay in touch with the boards of these companies. Fly in business delegations and get adequate media coverage. Bad news travels fast, Good news needs to be marketed. Not through television commercials or print ads.
Rome was not built in a day, but was destroyed by a fiddling Nero. Or CM needs to ensure that he puts aside his fiddle and walks the talk.
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