Month: May 2021

Education and Private Education

Shabbir Chunawalla

In India, there are 943 universities which fall into four categories — central universities, state universities, private universities and deemed universities. Of the total number of universities, 435 are state universities, 385 are private universities, 46 are central universities and 127 are deemed universities. In addition, there are 23 IITs, 19 IIMs, 31 NITs, 18 IIITs and five ISERs. In Maharashtra, we have one central university, 17 state universities, 18 private universities and 22 deemed universities.

It is expected that 6 per cent of GDP should be spent on education. However, currently education is allotted 3 to 3.5 per cent of GDP. And the amount allotted to higher education is just 0.6 per cent. As a result, there is opportunity for privatisation of education. The then Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Vasant Dada Patil in 1983 decided to privatise professional education to curtail flow of students from Maharashtra to Karnataka.

After liberalisation in 1991, the Govt. decided to start private universities. Some institutes providing quality education must be given deemed university status. The clause 3 of the University Grants Act stated the same thing. Thus in Maharashtra, Symbiosis, Bharati and D.Y. Patil universities appeared as deemed universities. Even state government passed special legislation to set up private universities. There are 18 such universities in Maharashtra. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are the two states having most private universities.

Disney+

Shabbir Chunawalla

Disney+ has been launched in India in 2019. It is Disney Company’s streaming services in India and Indonesia. Together both these markets account for 18.4 million subscribers. That is more than a quarter of Disney+ customers worldwide (73.7 million). Most subscribers in India pay just a fraction of what US subscribers pay. In April 2020, Disney introduced three levels of service — free, VIP and premium. The VIP version includes live sports, Indian movies, and Disney films dubbed in local languages. It costs Rs.399 per year ($5.40). The premium version includes Disney+ originals and English language content. It costs $4 a month or $ 20 per year. Cricket matches are big draw for Disney+ in India.

MX Player

Shabbir Chunawalla

OTT platform MX Player has diversified into music, gaming and short-format video business. After the departure of TikTok, there was void in the market. MX Player has introduced MX Taka Tak to fill this void. It is an advertising-led revenue model. On MX Player, they have close to 100 games. They have opened the platform to game developers who publish their games on it. They will scale up to have thousands of games. SVOD-only content internationally cater to the youth. It is an opportunity. More than half the content is driven by originals. They have good international content which is dubbed in Hindi.

Marketing Communication

Shabbir Chunawalla

In yester years, marketing communication basically focused on promoting the brands. These days it aims at creating favourable feelings about the brands and their makers on the social media. If the brand is liked, there is a cascading effect — the word spreads more rapidly and farther than the traditional advertising. And yes, with greater impact.

Marketing communication was treated as advertising in print and electronic media. Digital advertising and social media has expanded the scope. Non-traditional media too have come in the picture.

Effective communication is that communication which creates the desired response in the audience.

Ad Expenditure

Shabbir Chunawalla

On account of lockdown Indian ad expenditure fell by 20 percent, and stood at Rs. 54,151 crore in 2020. In the fourth quarter, the expenditure rose substantially. In 2021, ad expenditure is likely to rise to Rs. 68,325 crore of which print media would account for Rs. 16100 crore. Digital would expand to Rs. 21,200 crore, and outdoor to Rs. 2450 crore. Cinema advertising would reach Rs. 475 crore and radio to Rs. 1750 crore.

Drug Regulation in India

Shabbir Chunawalla

India’s regulation of drugs and cosmetics is a parallel set up at the central and state level — we have the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) and State Drugs Control Departments (SDCDs). Such a dual system has its demerits. There is overlapping and there is no uniformity in interpretation and implementation of the Act. Ideally, there should be a single monitoring system.

The CDSCO acts as the Central Licensing Approving Authority for grant or renewal of licenses of blood banks, drug testing labs, vaccines, medical devices, sera, large volume parenterals and new drugs. The inspection is joint inspection. The report is given to the State Licensing Authority. It grants or renews the license. It is forwarded upwards to DCGI for ratification.

There is joint inspection for granting certificates to exporters. The testing samples drawn by central officers are sent to central testing labs and by the state officers to the state testing labs.

Capacity is assessed by joint inspection. CDSCO functions as a co-ordinating authority with states. Prior to granting of licenses in Form 28, 28 A. 28B, 28D or 28DA, there is joint inspection. In a proposed amendment to the Act, it is suggested that license in respect of 17 categories of drugs will be taken up by CDSCO. In respect of other categories of drugs, the powers vest with the state authorities.

There are two wings in the regulatory authorities — enforcement wing and laboratory wing. In enforcement wings, the functionaries are Drugs Controller General (India), Joint Drugs Controller (India), Deputy Drugs Controller (India), Assistant Drugs Controller (India) and Drug Inspector (India). In the lab wing, there is Principal Scientific Officer equivalent to Joint Drugs Controller, Chief Scientific Officer equivalent to Dy. Drugs Controller, Scientific Officer or Government Analyst equivalent to Assistant Drugs Controller and Junior Scientific Officers equivalent to Drug Inspector.

The organisation has five broad functions — enforcement and new drugs, import-export, pharmacovigilance and blood bank, lab and intelligence, HR and admn. medical services each headed by Joint Drugs Controllers. These report to DCGI who in turn reports to the Government. All of these are assisted by deputies and assistants at the middle level. At the bottom of the pyramid, we have drug inspectors and junior scientific officers.

Ideally, the central and state authorities should merge into one drug regulatory system. It will enable effective implementation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

PR Tools

Shabbir Chunawalla

Advertising is one of the tools employed by PR. An organisation or media may use house-ads which are designed by the PR. Then there are public service announcements. In addition, there is cooperate advertising to build corporate image or propogate corporate viewpoint.

Publicity is another tool used by PR. Here PR uses various techniques to get media coverage about a company or a brand. Media relations is one important function of the PR. There are news releases to deliver PR messages. Stories are circulated in the media. There are press conferences and media tours.

Publications are the third important tool of PR. These publications could be pamphlets, brochures and annual reports.

Amongst other tools, audio-visual material, books and videos are used. They engage speakers and use photos. They use exhibits. Special events and tours are arranged.

Online communication makes use of Internet and social media. Both internal and external communication is used.

PR Programmes

Shabbir Chunawalla

PR establishes and maintains relationships with public. PR programme on the basis of relationships include:

Media relations: PR maintains contacts with media, and manages publicity.

Cause marketing: A company associates itself with a cause and provides assistance and support.

Fund raising: A company raises fund or collects donations for NGOs, hospitals, museums and channelises these funds to them.

Employee relations: Here it provides information to its employees. It is also called internal marketing.

Financial relations: It provides information to stock exchanges, investors and business analysts. It makes financial statements, which are attractive and informative, available to all.

Public affairs: It maintains relationships with the government and informs the public on issues related to regulations and government dealings. It may provide information to parliamentarians and legislators. This is called lobbying. It tries to influence the public policy.

Recruitment: PR professionals work with HR to recruit certain key professionals.

Apart from the relationships, the focus is on certain key functions.

Corporate reputation management is one such function. It builds trust in the organisation. This is done by doing community related work. It is called corporate social responsibility. (CSR).

Crisis management: Here possibility of a disaster is anticipated. There is a plan ready to deal with it. You must prepare for a potential crisis. There should be a quick response. There is a plan to avoid the crisis and deal with it when it occurs.

PR communication campaigns are used to influence public opinion. Here they counter the unfavourable arguments.

Marketing PR is a combination of marketing and PR. Here PR is used to generate sales and to contribute to consumer satisfaction. It is different from general PR. It includes both the brand and sales. It supports marketing.