Fever deaths

Fever deaths  in Kerala continue unabated. Often it is lack of cleaniness and sanitation that leads patients to Iose their lives. The Kerala Health Department has not come up with a unique way to tackle the dreaded situation. Every day, minister issues press releases cautioning doctors and health officers but none is seen cared of. The streets are continuously polluted with fish vendors and hoteliers augumenting mosquito growth.

The panchayat and municipal authorities  are least bothered of mobilising field staff to keep street clean. Instead they are interested in installing CCTVs to identify and fine polluters. CCTV installation  is a more profitable business for authorities than mobilising sweepers and scavengers. No proper mosquito eradiction method is adopted.
People should be better equipped to deal with fever spread by giving them basic medicine and awareness on mosquito eradication.

K A Solaman

Kerala new liquor policy

Kerala Govt's new liquor policy is aimed to convert the state into a place of drunkards. Last year, when Pinarayi governement sworn in power they had announced " We are opening schools closed by UDF and not bars." The implication then was they would never open closed bars.

Just after one year they started to act in the inverse. Now they say bar opening is a pragmatic step that may help boost its revenue and retrieve lost ground in the tourism sector. Is tourism in such a depolarable state to get money by  selling liquors? Do we need money by  selling toddy to foreign visitors ?

When the entire woman folk is against  selling liquor in the state why the government sticks to open new bars? The govt. raising the legal drinking age from 21 to 23 is ridiculous. Who cares about age at beverage corporation  outlets where even a school boy gets litres of liquor without age proof? The more ridiculous is the claim of govt that it does not favour prohibition and would rather emphasise on voluntary abstinence. Govt apprehension that if liquor availability is inadequate it would lead to a spike in drug abuse, is a cooked up story.
If proposed one  is the well- thought  liquor policy then in future the place of Pinarayi govt will be in the dust-bin of Kerala history.

K A Solaman

Lavish marriage

The marriage of daughter of CPI MLA Geeta Gopi invites one's attention to   the resolution taken two years back, by the Keraia Women Commission(KWC). The Commission then enlightened every one  to shun lavish marriages. According to the Commission fulsome marriages which had become a status symbol in Kerala had left many families to utter debt.

Bountiful marriages are common in many communities across the state emphasising the phrase,  ‘Fat  Kerala weddings’ – an affair costing several lakhs of rupees even among the middle class. On economic point money spent for ornaments, dresses etc would exceed rupees one crore. So the KWC directions to cut down unnecessary or showy expenditure is a welcome move and it is highly beneficial for middle and lower classes. But who cares? The persons who are bound to be role models are not ready to show that much wisdom.

K A Solaman