Hallmark of Modi Government.

Rashmi Thackeray, wife of Uddhav Thackeray, with (right) Nita Ambani at Narendra Modi’s swearing-in

Corporate conciliation of Modi Government will not be different from that Manmohan Singh Government. The indication in this direction is not alone the money spent by Modi Inc for election propaganda but the representation from Corporates, which was like never before, at the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.

Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita were seated in the third row with a ringside view of the proceedings. And the couple’s sons, Akash and Anant, were seated next in the same enclosure. The other Ambani offspring, Anil drew attention to him by accompanying with wife and mother Kokilaben. Representatives of organizations speaking for businesses, both big and small, were represented prominently. They too had ringside views of the formation of a new central government.  Gautam Adani, who had allegedly enjoyed Modi’s patronage when he was Gujarat chief minister, was a notable figure. Adani Company shares were sky rocketed with Modi’s win. Adani was accompanied by his wife. Other prominent industrialists who attended the event were Kumar Mangalam Birla, telecom czar Sunil Mittal, Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal, and Essar group chairman Shashi Ruia.

The sign is; like Manmohan Singh Government, Corporate governess will be the hall mark of Modi Government too.

K A Solaman

May Greetings!

Pillai’s gimmicks

The CM Ommen Chandy may be congratulated for saying: “Pillai can do whatever he wants. If he has the letter of statement of Saritha, let him release it. Let’s wait for the reshuffle till then”.

 It is of late the habit of Poojappura returnee and the dim-witted Pillai to come with all abuses against the government in which he is also a part as chairman of the State Forward Communities Welfare Corporation.  This superfluous chairman post was created to satisfy Pillai when there was an unceremonious exit of his son Ganesh Kumar from the cabinet because of  some issue relating women trafficking.  Ganesh divorced his wife with a price and now Pilli argues that his son is fit as fiddle for the post of minister. If Pillai’s party with single MLA is given a minister ship along with the chairman post of the State Forward Communities Corporation, it would turn out as an injustice to all other coalition parties. Then it would create further turmoil.

Pillai has a bad notion that there is none in Kerala politics to outshine him and he is even prepared to blackmail the government with what is called a letter from Solar  scam accused Saritha. And with the statement of the sort given by Oommen Chandy the gimmicks of the Pillai would come to a halt.

K A Solaman  

Are they talking less, working more?

That was in June 2012 the Kerala government asked its employees to restrict personal calls during working hours and for that the government had been congratulated from various corners.  State government has issued this order when its employees were mostly seen glued to their cell phones. Office computers were used for listening to music, for playing games and occasionally for searching pornographic sites. This spoiled the public’s impression of the government and hence the government imposed a ban on personal calls at work for its employees.

However, if one wishes to check  the situation in public offices he would be bewildered to see that no change has been taken place . On the other hand the employees are now equipped with smart phones, the application of which is far from that in 2012. The employees are busier with their cell phones at working hours.

 It is the practice of the government to issue well-meaning directives to their employees. But most of these instructions are ignored. Only a very few employees would take the order of this sort  seriously and end their private conversations during office hours.

It is true that the extensive use of cell phones at work creates a major distraction for the employees and causes utmost inconvenience to people visiting government offices to avail themselves of some service. But no order from the authorities would be able to solve this unless a follow up action is undertaken by the government. The staff will not voluntarily switch off their gadgets while on duty unless a random surprise check is made in offices. Other wise, directives of the above sort would turn out as meaningless gestures.

K.A. Solaman

Laddoo politics.

Several thousand of saffron coloured laddoo were consumed by BJP men as Narendra Modi lead their party to a spectacular win in the election. However, those laddoos brought in Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod were packed back because of little takers. The BJP candidates Rajagopal and Surendran lost the battle in these constituencies. Interestingly the green laddoos distributed at Malappuram and Ponnani got lots of takers. Green is the accepted colour of Muslim League, hence their laddoos are made green and their school tops too.

More interesting is the eating of laddoo by grouchy duo, L.K. Advani and Sushma Swaraj, who arrived on time to receive Narendra Modi on his first visit to the party headquarters as Prime Minister-designate. The pair, who had tried to damn Modi with faint praise after election, made themselves available for photo-session to celebrate party victory. Nevertheless, the irrepressible lot are the  BJP cadres who are furious at Advani and Sushma for their wet blanket response to government postings. Presumably the cadres are uncaring people who blind fully ignored the great sacrifice made by Advani in building up the party.

 So it is time for cadres to apologize and to recognize that a smooth sail of Modi government is only possible with the whole hearted support of Advani, Sushama and Murli Manohar Joshi. Unlike thoughtless cadres the clever Modi could understand all these specifics.

K A Solaman 

Comprehensive win

While one can say that it was the better marketing strategy of Mr. Modi’s that propelled the BJP to power, the mandate seems to be more a reaction to the large-scale corruption unleashed by the UPA, a sluggish economy and price rise. On many an occasion, the government looked ineffective. There were also many flip-flops on welfare schemes, an example being the Aadhar-linking exercise.

K.A. Solaman,

Alappuzha

The Hindu Published on 17-5-2014

UPA defeat.(Enough is enough)

Enough is enough

It is not only the better marketing strategy of Modi that brought a thumping victory to the BJP but also the harm done by the UPA government to the common people. The UPA was ineffective on many occasions, for instance when the oil companies repeatedly hiked the oil price.

There was an anti-UPA sentiment among the middle and poor classes due to the government’s economy policies and the exorbitant price rise. The UPA’s Aadhaar-linked exercise was painful and it was not able to live up to the expectations of the common people. Another important point is that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh never bothered to control his ministerial colleagues when there were reports of several scams. And when NDA with the support of the media projected Modi as the next prime minister, the Congress never bothered to project Rahul Gandhi similarly. So the people of India decided: “Enough is enough. Let us experiment with the NDA for the next five years!”

KA Solaman

Alappuzha

The Hindu business Line Published on 17 May 2014

Easy loan to common man?

Kerala Chief Minister Ommen Chandy taking steps for availing loans to the common man at low interest rates is welcome. He said”steps will be taken for availing loans at low interest rates. The State Bankers’ committee meeting will be convened on May 22 to discuss the matter.” The CM has taken such a decision on the back drop of suicide  of a few people who fell in the trap of blade mafia in the state. Nevertheless, the feasibility of CM’s step for easy loan is doubtful.

The blade men issue loan to without much guarantee. Their only guarantee is the quotation gang that collect the pay back. Even high-tech bankers, name to none, resort to this method to get back the dues. The nationalized banks, banks in the cooperative sector, or the KSFE could not lend money without proper guarantee. And the process of giving guarantee takes time and hence quick and easy loan as practiced by blade men is not possible for any financial institution under government control. This means minister’s step is only a soothing remark without any viability.

Also the statement that steps should be taken to speed up disbursement of loans by the Matsyafed and Kudumbasree project is also doubtful. How could a cash-crunchy state exchequer lend easy loan to people?

The bankers who issued education loans on the basis of the rhetoric of  certain ministers are now in doldrums because of non-repayment.  And in that context no banker would undertake easy loan to common people who have only sky above and earth below.

K A Solaman

Exit poll obsession

 Many people are jobless and waste time watching TV channels that telecast exit poll results. Most often, exit poll outcomes are contradictory to the actual election results. The hype given to these surveys is unwarranted. For instance, one of the exit poll surveyors has endorsed 18 seats in Kerala to UDF, while another admits only 12. It is time to prevent the exit poll obsession.

There should be some law in place against those surveyors pitching half-truths or no truths.

KA Solaman  Kerala

The Hindu Business line published on 15-5-2014

Welcome initiative by Kudumbasree.

It is of high welcome that Kerala women network 'Kudumbasree' is going join the drive against the sale and distribution of illegal liquor in the state. Women are the most sufferers of the liquor abuses in the state and if they plan a workout to contain this menace that would save many families especially that of low strata income.

The laborers and daily wage owners waste more than half of their income for consuming liquor and taking lottery tickets. The women and children solely depending on the daily income often fall in despair because of liquor consumption of the earning member. However, it is doubtful to get support from Marxist party and a section of the Congress for this endeavor as most the sellers and workers related to liquor are strong supporters of these parties.. Can anyone find a toddy shop in the state without a red flag fluttering in front of it?

If Kudumbasree mission, which has a strong volunteer base at the grass root level, could help agencies involved in the anti-illegal liquor drive it could avert many house hold crimes, nevertheless its feasibility is bleak.

K A Solaman

The New Indian Express published on 15-5-2014

Poor educational practices in Kerala private colleges.

Academic activities in colleges across Kerala have been badly hit by large-scale vacancies in various faculties. Many colleges have been facing an acute shortage of teachers with several vacancies.

Though permission to various colleges to fill up vacancies has been given, they make it as good opportunity to collect money by way application money from innumerable job seekers. It is the practice of some private college managements to post none after conducting interview. The five member interview board with one government nominee and a subject expert is a farce as these members dance in tune with other three of the management in the board after getting a five star hospitality.  After the interview, posts are held vacant for always with no permanent faculty. The classes are then run by guest faculty with meager salary and hence managements can often notify the vacancy for collecting application money. The fee for single application for appointment in private colleges in Kerala about Rs 800 and if a college receives 100 applications for a single post it makes Rs 80000 per subject. If there are ten subjects the sum collected is Rs 8 lakh and that too without filling a single post. This ordeal is repeated and the losers are those candidates with NET qualification and Ph D.

The colleges engaging lecturers on contractual basis should be abandoned. Teaching is a noble profession that needs total dedication and  for which the guest faculty and retired teachers are unfit. It is high time for higher education department in Kerala to investigate the bad practices taken up by the private college managements.

A candidate from a different community appeared for an interview in a private college had to answer only questions of the sort: “Why did you waste money? Don’t you know our practice? Could you find any one in our colleges outside our community? So, take tea and leave the place. This job is not for people like you”.

All in the education sector know this but who cares?

K A Solaman

Usman searching for a way out.

Thee Mahila Congress leader Shanimol Usman has crossed all limits with her letter accusing the KPCC President V M Sudheeran. No doubt Ms Usman’s letter is a part of conspiracy against Sudheeran who keeps firm stand on the liquor policy. Shanimol’s opponent A A Shukkoor, the Alappuzha District Congress Committee President, is a strong opponent of a liquor baron in the locality. 

A section of the Congress party in the state demands a ‘practical approach’, like adding water to liquor, in the liquor policy. And for them in the direct fight with Sudheeran, a woman on the front line is a shield and thus Usman became a pawn for them. Usman’s letter, therefore, is based on a conspiracy and three-member party committee set up to probe the entire episode would bring the truth. An action less than a total apology from Ms Usman would show the way out for her from the party.

K A Solaman