Leaders should restrain

It is quite unfortunate to see that some unidentified miscreants had set ablaze the memorial of P. Krishna Pilli, founder-leader of the Communist movement in Kerala, in Alappuzha. It triggered a verbal fight between Left and Congress leaders. The call for a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the district on Friday is a pre-runner to possible agitations in the offing as there are more statues of the leaders elsewhere in the state. Defacing the bust of  Krishna Pillai is a heinous act.  It all happened on the heels of the attack on Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at Kannur.

More interesting is verbal fight of the leaders from both the fronts. While Pinarayi put the Kannur episode as the outcome of mutual fight in the Congress party, KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala returned it in the same coin by blaming factionalism within the CPM in the locality for the Kannarkatt incident. What is needed is; more restrain from top brasses of both fronts. 

K A Solaman

Unpardonable attack

The pre-planned attack by some miscreants on Kerala CM injuring him is unpardonable. The guilty should be given no mercy. Though the some leaders say their party has no connection with the attack, all are of one opinion that the leaders should be spared from attack. It was the followers the suffering lot for quite long. Interestingly tendency has been changed as leaders are also now targeted for assault.

 The CPM has denied their involvement in the attack and they are of the firm belief that no CPM worker was involved in this incident. Nevertheless the 21 arrested are strong CPM cadres

For those who have been arrested it will be a tough time the coming two years. After that they are the heroes and that is why more and more people indulge in political offence.

K A Solaman

Kerala kangaroo court.

On one aspect Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's mass contact programme is a welcome move as the poor and needy people get their requests to Government attended. Nevertheless, the programme is an obvious example of bureaucratic inefficacy in the State.  If officials were not unwilling to hear the complaints of the people the paraphernalia of spending 2-3 crores for conducting mass contact programme can be out rightly avoided.  The success of mass contact program makes officials to keep more and more files ready for the clearance of the CM when he turns out for the programme.

Interestingly the mass contact programme is not seen elsewhere in the world as it would send wrong message regarding bureaucratic failure in that country. So, in other way the Ommen Chandy government tells the world that the rule under him is topsy-turvy.  With mass contact programme the Kerala Government has turned into a Kangaroo court where the government officials are not accountable to any one.

Doing something for the common man should not be by mass contact programme but  by making the officials responsible. Chief Minister of a State need not do all the clerical works.

K A Solaman 

Face the music

A special court has found the former chief minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad, guilty in the notorious fodder scam case. This is a big blow to the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the former politician’s career. It will change the political scenario of Bihar to a great extent (“Verdict that can re-engineer political and social equations”, Oct 1). Prasad was was found guilty of corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating in the 17-year-old fodder scam case. According to the established norms of a recent judgment delivered by the Supreme Court, he stands disqualified from Parliament and is ineligible for contesting elections for at least six years. The Centre has been lambasted by various critics for allegedly attempting to protect convicted ministers by trying to introduce a controversial ordinance that negated the verdict of the apex court. The fodder scam involved the siphoning of funds from the Chaibasa treasury (which is now in Jharkhand) during Prasad’s tenure as the chief minister of Bihar in the 1990s. The theft spanned several years, and many state government administrators and officials were involved in it. This verdict will send out a strong warning to corrupt politicians of the entire country. K.A. Solaman,  Kerala The Telegraph, Kolkata Oct 4, 2013

Vidyarambam.

'Vidyarambham'  is an auspicious occasion and that is why thousands of children attend this  ceremony to mark the beginning of their learning. A heavy rush is seen at places where this ceremony is held. In  most places the administers of the first letter are little learned and unlearned ‘poojaaris’. A few wicked politicians also have acted as gurus. The fate of these children is beyond one’s imagination.

Interestingly a few parents seek the service of more than one guru as a precautionary measure.

K A Solaman 

Andhra division –a foolish act.

Divide and rule is the policy of Manmohan singh Government and it is evident from the bifurcation of the State of Andhra Pradesh. Division of Andhra Pradesh is a hasty and thoughtless act.  The issue of capital has been pushed to 10 years and the people will still have the problem later. It is not only the case of division that accompanies the expenses of building a capital, but also it involves the salaries and perks of a cabinet.  The cost to the Government exchequer is huge and where does the Congress intend to bring this amount is unknown?

The State of Andhra has already suffered from a long period of strike and the strike will likely to intensify. The loss of revenue due to this strike is huge.  Normal life was paralysed in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. The united Andhra supporters blocked highways and enforced closure of shops and other commercial establishments and educational institutions in the two regions. Sporadic incidents of public and private property being attacked also came in from many districts.

Political parties will now start taking advantage of this situation and there will be a repeated show of militancy. The ultimate losers are the common people. The division has not benefited anybody except a few Congress leaders, nevertheless, they should also feel the heat due to the uncontrollable violence in Andhra.

K A Solaman

Kerala's debt trap

All day lotteries and all time liquor sale have not saved Kerala’s financial scenario. On the completion two and a half year in office the Ommen Chandy Government has not adopted a concrete strategy to combat the debt trap. The Finance Minister Mani is seen more interested in preaching “adhwanavarga sidhantham”(working class ideology) than to take steps to boost tax collection. He was, for quite long, dreaming of becoming the CM in coalition with the other front.  Kerala needs a bail-out package from centre and the CM with his disturbed mind for the whole tenure has not done anything to get assistance from the Centre.  Chandy and Mani are not confident of achieving the targeted tax collection. Instead the latter is targeting the former with his loose-tongued assistant chief whip P C George.

 Measures like introduction of e-filing of return under sales tax act and corruption free check posts are not in the scene. Compliance from the bureaucracy for tax collection is poor as the ministers themselves give protection to tax evaders. However, the Police and the Road Transport Department are doing all the abject things to squeeze vehicle owners but the amount so collected  is inadequate  to meet the ministerial extravagance.

The Union Finance Minister permitting Kerala government to go for market borrowing also widens Kerala’s debt trap. And if this trend persists even a new born in Kerala would become a debtor for several thousand rupees.

K A Solaman 

Lalu's conviction

The verdict is a major blow to Lalu Prasad. The judgment has great significance at a time when the ruling UPA government and the BJP are locked in a war of words over the ordinance with regard to convicted politicians. It also sends a strong warning to corrupt political leaders.

K.A. Solaman, Alappuzha 

The Hindu published on 1-10-2013

For personal gains.

Enjoying power without any accountability is an added advantage for the future prime minister Rahu Gandhi. His denouncing of the controversial ordinance to negate the Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers as ‘complete nonsense’ is something in that direction. Rahul Gandhi said the ordinance should be ‘torn up and thrown away’. The statement of Rahul has shaken the PM Dr Manmohan Singh and the latter said the issue would be considered by the Cabinet. How easy to swivel the decision of an elected Government without any answerability? The whole episode is an image building exercise of Rahul Gandhi, one which is akin to group weeping of all Congress men before the mother and the son.

It is true that common people do not generally want politicos involved in criminal cases as lawmakers. But the ordinance contains something more than that. Nowadays it is the practice of political parties to trap leaders of rival group by filing false case. And it would take several years to come out from a criminal case due to the snail pace of the judicial system. Rahul Gandhi, in fact, has not studied the ordinance and hence optioned for erratic outburst against the prime minister. The opposition of BJP is explicable as they are the Opposition party while that of Rahul Gandhi, being the Congress Vice-President, is not reasonable. It is aimed at personal gains.

 K A Solaman