RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS- IS IT NECESSARY?

I write this with reference to a rather innocuous news report that appeared in today's newspapers. It pertains to the decision of the Kerala State Government to provide a restricted holiday to employees belonging to a certain caste on March 12, being the birthday of "Vaikundha Swamy", whoever that may be.

In the present day chaos based on the mass conversions reported from various parts of the country, isn't this act of the government another effort towards a minority appeasement? Will it not create another divide among various sections of the employees? By granting such a holiday restricted to only a section of the employees, isn't the government depriving the other employees of the facility of one day leave? I am sure the employees association will raise these questions in the coming days, which may put the government in another tight spot, after the Bar imbroglio.

I request the government to rethink on the present decision and avoid taking such decisions based on caste, religion etc. in our "Secular" country

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

The other day I went to watch the Aamir Khan movie "PK". While watching the same I was wondering why no "religious " leaders have so far come out against the screening of the movie on the ground that it "hurt" the religious feelings!! The comments made by the character portrayed by Aamir Khan raises some pertinent questions which needs to be answered by the so called religious leaders. It also depicts how the so called "spiritual" leaders take the believers for a ride and how the believers are being exploited.

And when I got the newspaper today (23.12.2014) I saw the report saying that somebody has filed a PIL petition seeking a ban on the movie!!! So my expectation was not off the mark! We still have people who cannot tolerate any constructive criticism. I hope the honorable court will take a balanced view after seeing the movie and dismiss the petition, as I do not find anything in the movie which abuses any religion. At the same time it has questioned the false beliefs of all religions and their leaders also. This should not be a reason for banning the screening of the movie. It is high time we learnt to accept the constructive criticisms in its stride

Political activity of aided school teachers

This has reference to the demand of the KSU to ban the aided school teachers from contesting elections in the State. The demand has not come a day too early, as I have been arguing for this for several years now. Al all of us know, the aided school teachers and the private college teachers are paid salary by the State Government and hence for all practical purposes they are government servants. When government employees are banned by service rules to join any political party or contest in the elections, why this facility should be available to the aided school and private college teachers who also draw salary and allowances from the State Treasury? In addition to this, the services of such teachers who get elected in the elections will not be available to the students during the period when they remain as elected members. May be the managements can make a killing by making temporary appointments to fill such temporary vacancies.

A related topic is the decision of the state government to ban the government employees from becoming an office bearer of any religious or communal organisations. Many organisations have already questioned this decision and urged the government to revoke this order. I wonder why the organisations make such arguments!. Is it that their community or religion do not have any other responsible persons for holding the post? Or is it that if a government employee is holding an office bearer post the organisation will be able to reap any undue benefits (from the government as well as from public).

I hope the government will ensure both the above points will be implemented strictly so that the services of the persons to whom salaries are paid from the exchequer is available to the tax payer.

Abandoned Borewells- A Death Trap

Yet another report of a child falling into abandoned bore well has appeared in the news papers, and fortunately, this time the child could be rescued. I wonder how such things keep on happening in spite of number of accidents reported recently, in many cases ending with the death of the child. Who is to be held responsible for such tragic incidents? Do they not take any precautionary measures while digging and subsequently abandoning the bore wells? Has any case been registered against the owner of the plot where such abandoned bore well was available in the past incidents?

And what are the circumstances under which the bore wells are abandoned? Don't they make any scientific study to ensure that water will be available if the bore well is dug?  And if the bore well is to be abandoned, why cant they close it or keep it properly covered to prevent accidents? Does anybody has any responsibility in such cases? Many questions need to be answers by the landlords as well as the revenue authorities of the State concerned.

ONLINE TRADE

After the billion dollar trade offer fiasco from Flipkart, it is reported that Enforcement Directorate has decided to look into the affairs of the online trade industry.  Some merchant bodies have also demanded enquiry into the dealings of the online trading companies and have even demanded banning of these activities on the plea that the retail trade shops are losing business because of the online trades!!!

I feel this argument of the traders is ridiculous. These were the same people who opposed the entry of multinational companies in the retail trade business, arguing that they will initially sell goods at throwaway prices to gag the existing retailers and once they close shops unable to withstand the competition, the MNCs will start charging high prices from the customers. Do they think that the customers are so dumb people? For a customer it is his right and privilege to buy goods he wants from a place of his choice. And if he finds a product at a cheaper price, he will definitely purchase from there. After some period, if the prices are increased, the choice is with the customer whether to buy at the increased price or not. If the MNCs (or for that matter the online trading platforms) can procure the goods at a lower price and offer the same to customers, why should the retailers be worried? They can also reduce the profit margin and offer a lower price to the customer, if they want to be in the business. Instead of doing that they cry hoarse saying that the MNCs or the online platforms are under cutting to ease them out of the business. If that be the case, the same thing should be happening with a large retailer and a small next door kirana shop, no? So it is only a question of survival of the fittest in the present world of competition. If anybody is not able to stand up to the competition, it would be better for him to give way to the others.

And I wonder what the Enforcement Directorate is going to look into in the business. The online traders do the proper billing while they effect the sales, and hence there cannot be any instance of tax evasion, I feel. And if the government machinery is going to oversee every such activity by a private party, there will not be an end to it. So I feel these people should be freely allowed to do their business, which will only be beneficial to the customers.

The Taxes department of Government of Kerala has taken a stand that all the sales done on Cash on Delivery (COD) basis by the online traders will be treated as sales taking place in the State and taxes as applicable to sale in the State has to be paid by the companies!!!! Because of this most of the companies have stopped offering the COD benefit to the customers from the State. So isn't the tax department doing a disservice to the customers from the State?

Maharashtra elections

After much discussions and deliberations the two long standing alliances in Maharashtra, which is going to polls in another two weeks, have split and the constituents have decided to sweat it out on their own. This will effectively lead to a six cornered contest in almost all constituencies among the congress, BJP, NCP, Shiv Sena, MNS and the left parties. And quite naturally, it is almost certain that none of these parties will be able to win a clear majority of seats to enable them to form a government. In such a scenario, these parties which had parted ways for some seats, will surely come together in the lust for power to stake their claim to form the government. Should the governor permit such post poll alliances, befooling the common voter? Will it not be against the clear mandate given by the voter? When these parties had fought against each other how can they come together and form an alliance to form the government? Even though there is no clear provision in the Representation of Peoples Act to deal with such a situation, I hope the Governor and the President will apply their mind judiciously and disallow any such claims put forward by any post poll alliances. But then the question will arise what will happen to the governance of the state. Let the state be put under President's rule for one or two terms (for which provisions are there in the constitution) by which time the politicians will become wiser and take a firm decision before approaching the electorate. The governor should be permitted to choose people of eminence from various fields to advise him during the President's rule. I only hope the judiciary will not play their activism in case such an arrangement is challenged in the court.

The Union Government can think of amending the Representation of Peoples Act to deal with such situations, as the era of coalition politics is there to stay in the country. I sincerely hope all political parties will come together and think rationally on the among suggestion and try to avoid a similar situation in other places in the country in the larger interests of the country.

How to tackle the State's financial crisis

It is reported that Kerala is facing a financial crisis (especially in the wake of the decision to close down the bars) and the government was planning to stop creating new posts and also imposing new taxes to overcome the crisis. Youth congress has already opposed the move to ban new recruitments. (Actually the proposal for banning creation of new posts and not for recruiting people to the existing posts!)

I would like to suggest the following steps to augment the position in the long run.

a. Review all cases of pending tax recoveries and speed up the recovery measures.

b. Curtail the wasteful expenditure of ministers and top bureaucrats. Outstation travel should be undertaken in exceptional cases only. ( I do not think all the ministers and MLAs should attend all the public functions held across the state)

c. Put a bar on all modification works to ministers' residences. Only the basic maintenance should be undertaken

d. Power and fuel bills of ministers' residences to be reduced. ( petrol and electricity). This should be extended to all offices too.

A review of existing staff strength at various departments to be conducted and any excess staff to be reduced by not filling up the vacancies created by retirement/ death etc. Number of personal staff of the ministers, leader of opposition and chief whip to be halved with immediate effect.

I am sure if the above steps are implemented fully, the state can compensate for the loss of revenue caused due to the decision to close the bars.

VIP Privileges

A new debate has recently started regarding the privileges enjoyed by our elected representatives and their demand for more during their air travel. This has gathered momentum in the wake of a video that appeared in you tube showing the passengers of a pakistan airline not allowing an ex minister boarding the plane after the same was delayed for two hours for him.

While I can understand the special privileges given to the head of the State, Prime Minister etc. I fail to understand the privileges offered to the ex Prime Minister, ex President, etc and also to all those elected representatives in Parliament! The other day there was a ruckus in Parliament over a room occupied by Telugu Desom party, which had been allocated to Trinamool Congress by the Speaker. While the former refused to vacate the room, the latter tried to forcefully occupy the same, put their own name plates etc..

Ad it is reported that Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to offer more privileges to the MPs in the domestic flights like priority booking, priority check in, free access to lunges, skipping the security check etc. One wonders why all these are required for an MP! Being an elected representative of the common man, shouldn't he behave like a common man? Why should he be allowed to jump the queue and checked in at the counter (that too when an online check in option is available)? Considering the fact that many of our elected representatives are having criminal backgrounds and many criminal cases are pending against many, I am afraid waiving the security check requirements for them will be putting the ordinary passenger at risk.

And comes the unauthorised retention of the residential accommodation provided to MPs even after they cease to be one. The estate department has reportedly issued notices to many such "squatters" and has started cutting the utilities like water and electricity to those houses which had not been vacated within the notice period. As a retaliatory measure, yesterday the RLD has threatened the Government with cutting water supply to delhi if the house allocated to their "leader" Ajit Singh is taken back forcefully!! All these acts and demands on the part of the political parties and elected representatives only show their arrogance towards the common man and can be replied to through the ballot only. But how many common men will be remembering these acts, when they go to the polling booths? It is the duty of those who are concerned about such arrogant demands and behaviour of the elected representatives to highlight these at the time of election and educate the voters about the need to teach such representatives a lesson.

There is also a practice of government properties being leased to political parties for longer periods on paltry lease amounts for the parties to construct their office, memorial etc. This practice also should be stopped by the Government immediately. Why should the parties have their offices in such posh areas, if they really want to serve the people as claimed by them? Let them have a smaller place out of the funds raised by them.

Validity of affidavit by a woman not acceptable to government!

The other day I had to visit the village office to get a "same person certificate " in respect of my son, which name has been spelt differently in birth certificate and other records. The online application submitted through the Akshaya centre was rejected with a direction to appear before the Village Officer with the concerned documents and affidavit from two neighbours! I got the affidavits signed by two neighbours (my sister in law and brother in law)to the effect that the persons named in the birth certificate and passport , though differently spelt, are the same. When I presented these to the village officer, she immediately prepared a report to be submitted to the tahsildar, as the certificate was to be produced outside the state. However, before signing the report she scrutinised the documents submitted by me once again and observed that one of the affidavits was signed by a lady. She very politely requested me to get another affidavit signed by a male neighbour as THE AFFIDAVIT FROM A LADY WAS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I was totally taken aback by this statement. However, since I was the person in need, I came back, got an affidavit signed by another male member and submitted the same for getting the report from the Village Officer. With that I could get the required certificate from the Tahsildar too.

But, isn't is a gender discrimination to suggest that an affidavit signed by a lady is not acceptable to the State Government and even a lady officer has to abide by this dictat, without any objection? Are our feminine liberalists unaware of this stipulation by the Government? Why nobody has raised any objection to such a blatant gender discrimination?? In fact I posed this question to the lady village officer herself, but she did not have a answer . I would like to know the reaction of others to this

Status of aadhar card as address proof

The UPA Government had created the UIDAI for creating a unique identity to every citizen of the country and this identity card was proposed to be used for transferring the benefits to the beneficiary's account direct. After an initial hesitation, the present government has also decided to continue with this initiative. However, I experienced a different treatment from the State Government officials.

After settling down at my place of domicile I decided to get my address in all the documents changed to the present one and accordingly I started with aadhar card which was issued while we were staying in Hyderabad. Using the online functionality, I could request for the updation of address e\with the new address and to my surprise within a period of 10 days I got a confirmation that the address had been updated and the revised aadhar card could be downloaded from the site.
The next was trying to get a new electoral card for me and my wife using again the online functionality f the Chief Electroal Officer. The application was duly uploaded and the Booth Level Officer (BLO) visited us to collect the documents. The BLO also asked for a proof of address and when I offered the aadhar letter , she requested to give some other document like ration card, telephone bill etc. Luckily I had a telephone bill in my new address and I enclosed the original with my application and a copy thereof duly attested with my wife's application. While my application was approved in the next two days , I was informed by the BLO that she had been asked to get an address proof for my wife for processing her application. When I contacted the person concerned as suggested by the BLO, he informed that some document in the name of wife has to be submitted as her address proof and the husband's address proof is not acceptable as wife's address proof!!!! Then he also suggested to furnish copy of electricity bill/ gas connection/ ration card to prove her address. While the electricity bill does not give the address in it, I asked my wife to go to Taluk office and submit the copy of the aadhar letter duly attested. As a matter of precaution, I asked her to carry copy of the gas connection voucher (which was luckily in her name) also with her. As expected, the official at the Taluk Office, Cherthala refused to accept the copy of aadhar letter and instead settled with the copy of gas connection voucher!!!!
So the moot question is, what is the value of the aadhar? I understand that RBI has permitted Banks to accept the aadhar card as KYC document for opening the Bank accounts. And here is a government official who is ready to accept a document issued by an agency of a public sector oil company against another document duly issued by an authority created the Government of India for this special purpose. What a contrast!! Anyway I am happy that at least I got a confirmation to the effect that the application of my wife has also been approved, though we are yet to receive the electoral cards.

So what is the status of Aadhar, can somebody enlighten?

Another Hartal

Kerala witnessed one more Hartal on Tuesday, which was "successful" i the sense that hardly any vehicle plied on the road and almost all the shops were closed! But what have the organisers gained? Do they think that they could gather some sympathy for their colleague who was murdered or the entire population of the state had whole heartedly welcomed their call for Hartal? I am sure NEITHER.

The unexpected Hartal had only put the plans of many people into a disarray. And the visuals shown in many news channels were evident enough for the muscle strength of the organisers for making the hartal a success. At many places, violence was unleashed, it is reported. One visual in almost all channels showed the workers destroying the fruits in a shop and beating the worker in the shop severely. No law enforcing persons were seen in the near vicinity! Has the government thought it fit to remain as a mute spectator to such hooliganism in the rare hope that the organisers will gain negative publicity?

Does not the elected government of the state have a responsibility to give protection to the life and property of its citizens? Why is the police strictly instructed to book the culprits immediately when such violence takes place? As the people indulged in such activities could be identified from the visuals available will the police and the government  take them into custody  at least at the end of the day? And what happened to the High Court order for recovering the loss from the organisers of such hartals? Will the government implement it in the right earnest? Or is it that they will brush aside all such cases under the "political cases" category?

The "Say No to Hartal" had conducted a seminar at Ernakulam on the topic recently where leaders of various political parties and other organisers had vaxed eloquently against this practice, but none except the volunteers of "Say NO to hartal" were seen on the roads on Tuesday. Neither anybody had even issued a statement condemning the Hartal call.

At the same time I condemn in the strongest words, the brutal murder of the person at Kannur and urge the Government to speed up the investigation and bring the culprit to book and get them required punishment immediately. 

I hope better sense will prevail over all those concerned in the State for stopping such murders in the name of politics and also the Hartal calls which will inconvenience the general public

functioning of psus (navratna psu)

Having decided to settle down at my native place after retirement, I though of having a permanent telephone cum broadband connection at the house. When I was browsing through the site of BSNL (One of the navratna PSUs) I came across a link saying that now BSNL comes to your doorstep. All you were asked to do was to give the address of the location for new connection and give the contact number, which I did dutifully.I promptly received an SMS on my mobile giving the lead number generated and advising the name of a person who would be contacting me in this regard. Happy at the speed at which I got the response, I shifted to the new place and started waiting for the BSNL man. (Waiting for godot?). When I did not get any further response for another two weeks, I called the person on his mobile number given and I was told that he was yet to be relieved for the job and he would call me once he was relieved! As this reply gave me some indication of things to come I went to the local telephone exchange and told my requirement. They asked me to visit the commercial office(about 6 KM away) and register the application. Once I reached this office, I was asked to fill up the required form and pay the registration fee of Rs 500/-. They immediately contacted the exchange concerned and allocated the telephone umber also to me.. Surprise again!!!! But what will I do with a number without the actual connection coming to me? After two more visits to the exchange, I though enough was enough and lodged a complaint at the email address given in the site (pgcellkerala@bsnl.co.in) which remains to be replied to even now!!!(even after three months). I also talked to the SDE concerned who promised to do the needful once the ongoing fault repair work was over. Finally a lineman/ technician arrived and did some "ground " work (he literally dug the ground nearby and connected the cable pair available in the nearby junction box) and left saying that he would report to the commercial office for getting further orders. Subsequently I was told by the SDE that as they were not having stock of drop wire, the actual connection would be delayed. Finally the drop wire also arrived and I was asked to provide the telephone instrument and WiFi modem for connecting the same!!!! All these exercises took about three months before I actually could start using my land line phone and the broad band connection. My all expectations about a faster service from the BSNL (the reincarnation of the old P&T Department)  were belied and it was proved that the department/organisation still worked with the good old mindset, in spite of the competition in the market and changed scenario. May be the people concerned are thinking that in spite of the competition from the private players (which is only in metro and urban areas) they could get away with such attitude in the rural and semi urban areas as the customer does not have any other option.
And my email to the grievance cell still remains unanswered!!!