THE PSC RANKLIST CONUNDRUM

I am a bit amused to read about the decision of the cabinet of Kerala to extend the validity of the PSC ranklists, which are expiring by Arch 2017 amidst demand from various quarters to extend the validity of all lists. And the protesters also made some dramatics like a suicide threat by climbing atop a tree by one person!!

The Kerala Public Service Commission regularly invites application from eligible candidates fr appointment to various posts under Government of Kerala on the basis of the vacancies advised by the concerned departments, I understand. Once the rank list is ready it is the duty of the PSC to issue the advice memos to the successful candidates and the concerned departments to appoint them against the vacancies already identified by them. The vacancies advised to the PSC include both existing and those anticipated in the next one year.

This being the case, I fail to understand why the demand for extending the validity of the ranklist is made at all!! If no appointments are made from the rank list prepared, the concerned heads of department should be taken to task and those whose names appear in the rank list upto the number of vacancies declared should be given appointment orders immediately and the balance list should be made void with immediate effect. Any fresh vacancies should be filled in after calling for fresh applications and conducting the test/interview etc. Without doing this, if the validity of the list prepared once is extended many times, this will be detrimental to the interests of the freshers who become eligible to apply for similar posts. The political parties or organisations supporting such demand for extension should realise this aspect too.

I only hope the government and PSC will evolve a fool proof system to conduct the examinations and appoints the successful candidates in a time bound manner to eradicate such problems faced by the candidates, which may lead to such demands.

Regarding the suicide threat raised by one of the agitators, I personally feel that undue publicity should not be given to such attempts and the person should be left to mend for himself. I feel undue media glare only encourages people to show such dramatics.

DEMONETIZATION AND AFTER EFFECTS

A lot has been written and reported in the media about the present crisis and the difficulties faced by the customers. But I feel all these have happened as the issue has been seen from the point of view of the customer only and nobody has bothered to go deep into the entire issue. It may be admitted that any such strong measures will lead to some temporary inconveniences to the people concerned. In the present scenario also the government has put the embargo on the withdrawals through ATM and from Bank only to ensure that the available stock of small denomination notes are not cornered by a few people and the money should reach all. It may be admitted that the government could not ensure adequate supply of Rs 100/- notes immediately, but to tide over that situation only it has put the limit f withdrawals in cash. At the same time, I understand there is no upper limit on the transfer transactions, as it does not involve cash. So anybody who has been using the internet banking, mobile banking etc services of the banks and traders having POS machines for receiving payments are not at all affected, I am sure. For quite some time now all the banks have been trying to migrate the customers to these channels, but people refused to accept the change. At least now, under pressure, I am sure people will move over to the alternate channels platform. 

Regarding the inconvenience faced by the customers, the Bankers could have been more proactive in educating the customers and removing the panic fro their minds to reduce the long queues in the Banks. They could have effectively used the media and services of their elder colleagues (retired bank staff) for the purpose. I am sure the long queues seen in the banks in the initial days were due to the fact that people had become panic about getting money and not because everybody wanted liquid cash immediately. If the government and Banks had taken some steps to eliminate this element of panic, this would have been much easier.

Media are playing a negative role by highlighting the deaths of people standing in the queue, as if the death occurred only because the person was standing in the queue. People who feel discomfort, in whatever queue they are, should immediately seek medical help or help from others instead of letting themselves collapse on the spot, I feel.

I remember, as a school boy,  when as external emergency was declared at the time of India China war in 1962, there were lot of restrictions on the movement of people, using lights inside the home etc. We had lived with that in the larger interests of the country. We have to only think that we are passing through such a situation of "Financial Emergency " in the country and co operate with the government now. At least from now onwards people should ensure that they do not make any cash dealings and all the dealings are done through banking channel only.

Yesterday I happened to hear one MP mentioning in a TV channel discussion that a poor family who got a loan of Rs 100000/- sanctioned for daughters marriage could not get the money from the bank because of the upper limit put, and he persuaded the Branch Manager to transfer the money to four Jan Dhan accounts with the permission of them and withdrew 24000/- each from the account to help the family!!!! Government had already clarified that the upper limit will be Rs 250000/- in the case of marriage needs and hence this step need not have been taken, I feel. By using other people to withdraw money from the persons account, the MP was in a way supporting money laundering activity, knowingly and the poor BM was made a pawn in his hands.

The need of the hour is educating and encouraging all customers to increasingly use the alternate channels offered by the banks and minimise dealings in cash in all fields, which will reduce the black money to a great extent.

I also fail to understand the arguments of the RBI about the need for re calibrating the ATM for dispensing the new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes, as I feel that only a small change in the relative software will suffice for this purpose

All said and done, I fail to understand the logic in introducing a higher denomination note (Rs 2000/-) in place of withdrawn lower denomination notes (Rs 1000/-)

JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN INDIA

The verdict of the Supreme Court reducing the punishment awarded to Govindachami, the accused in the Soumya murder case raises some pertinent questions regarding the functioning of our judicial system.

I always used to wonder how such difference verdicts can be delivered by different courts. As far as I understand the appellate courts only consider the evidences already seen by the lower courts and the arguments made before it while deciding on the appeal. If that be the case, how is it that the appellate court comes to a different conclusion? It can only mean that either the judge at the lower court or the appellate has not seen the case in the entirety. When the appellate court reverses the order of the lower court, should not accountability be  fixed on the lower court judge for passing a wrong order?

In the instant case the trial court judge was convinced that based on the evidences presented and arguments made, it was proved beyond doubt that the accused had committed the crime and hence the maximum punishment was awarded to him. The High court while considering the appeal had concurred with the opinion of the trial court and the sentence was confirmed. How come that the Division Bench in the Supreme court arrived at a different judgement based on the same evidence and arguments? Who is at fault here? Whose accountability should be fixed? Or is it that the judges are not accountable to anybody and they can interpret the law according to their whims and fancies?

 It is high time this aspect has been looked into by the Apex court, National Law Commission etc.If this is ensured we can reduce the time taken by each case in coming to a final conclusion. Because of the differing judgements by different courts, the appeals become an almost  endless procedure, causing heavy burden on the courts.

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES IN SECULAR COUNTRY

The statements made by two Kerala Ministers in the recent past had invited adverse criticism from Sangh Parivar outfits. Politically, the adverse criticism is understandable. However, I fail to understand why these statements should be viewed as aggression on Hindu Religion at all.

The first statement was made by Mr G Sudhakaran who said that in all government functions the prayer and lighting the traditional lamps should be avoided. While I do not subscribe to the view of removing the lamp, (as lighting the lamp cannot be attributed to any particular religion and it also symbolises bringing light to one’s life), I do not find anything wrong about the prayer part. As of now all functions begin with a prayer and in almost all the cases the prayer happen to be invocation of Hindu God/goddess. (Vinayaka or Saraswathi, largely). Is it correct to do this in a so called secular country when the government is arranging the function? To avoid such controversies, government can issue a directive saying that the functions could start with a silent prayer where all those present can stand in silence for a minute making their own prayers to their own gods. This way the government can avoid the criticism of following a particular religious practice. There is no need to mix religion or politics in such a move, I feel.

The second statement, which has led to a more severe criticism, is made by Mr Kadakampally Surendran when he said that the temples in the state be freed from the RSS sakhas. Here also I do not find anything wrong in the said statement even though it can be attributed to his anti RSS stand. But how can BJP and RSS claim right to the temples and conduct the weapon training etc in the temple precincts. I remember when the sakhas were introduced in the State in the seventies, there used to be the physical exercise conducted by the swayamsevaks in a ground, nearby temple. These physical exercises were meant to keep the swayamsevaks physically fit. These trainings slowly gave way to training in using the Dandas, and it goes to the credit of the RSS that they were the first to challenge the violent stand taken by the Marxist party cadres in many labour disputes in the State. (So in a way we can blame Marxist party for the growth of RSS in the State, I feel). It is reported that the training in using dandas (presumably for the self defense) have now given way to training in using various types of weapons and the training has slowly moved into the temple grounds and inside the temples, which is not a welcome change.If such a practice is continued to be allowed, it may eventually lead to a situation we faced in Golden Temple and hence the minister has rightly stated that it should be stopped forthwith. The temple precincts should be allowed to be used for the religious purposes only and once the poojas are over the temple should be out of bounds for everybody. I do not know why BJP should take a defiant stand against this suggestion, unless they have something to hide.

In connection with the above two, we should consider some other developments also. It is reported that one civil police officer has approached the court to permit him to grow beard as advocated by his religion, which has been rejected by the State Police Chief citing the service rules. I wonder why anybody should be allowed to display the religious symbols in defiance to the rules governing the service he has joined. Or for that matter why the religious symbols like the black veil (Burkha) and the skull cap be worn by anybody in public to declare the religion he belongs to. The religion is something to be practiced in the privacy of one's home and not to be done in public places. This is also equally applicable in cases of the processions taken out by temples, churches and mosques during festival seasons, often creating traffic blocks etc. and the blaring out of so called devotional songs through loudspeakers thereby disturbing others peace.  Even though I belong to Hindu religion, I find the blaring of devotional songs from the nearby temple in the early morning and evening as a disturbance to my peaceful life only and it does not instill any pious feeling in me. It is high time such practices are stopped. The right of a person to practice any religion should not be infringing upon the right of another person who does not subscribe to the views.

Similarly, the Chief Minister Mr Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the government employees not to conduct the Onam celebrations during office hours. While his concern for the wastage of duty time on this can be understood, as rightly pointed out by many people it is not understood why he has not expressed the same concern with those involved in organisational activities during office time. The people who make arrangements for such celebrations and those who do the organisational works should be asked to do such activities outside their working hours, if they are so keen to do the same.

However, instead of taking administrative decisions in all the above, it will be better if the Chief Minister holds an all party meeting to discuss these issues and arrive at a consensus on the issues after listening to the views of all. If no consensus is evolved, it will be left to the Cabinet to take an appropriate decision, leaving no chance for others to interpret it as a partisan decision.

I hope better sense will prevail over all the so called leaders in the larger interests of the State.

SHRC against Bankers

It is quite unfortunate that the Kerala State Human Rights Commission has come down heavily on Banks for insuring the education loan borrowers, as reported in various media today. With due respect to the commission, I as a retired Banker, would like to point out that it is not the policy of any Bank to make it compulsory for the borrowers to take the insurance coverage. Banker only suggest to take an insurance cover of the student or co borrower for the term of the loan so that in case of any unforeseen mishaps, the family will not be burdened with the burden of repaying the loan.

While in service, I had an experience of such a case where the student who was in the final year of studies met with an accident and passed away. The family's financial condition was very bad, and we had a tough time in getting a suitable compromise proposal approved for liquidating the loan. At that time, the parent had complained that they were not aware of any provision for insuring the life which would have come in handy at such a situation. But the Banker cannot be explicit in saying that in case the parent or the student die during the period, the insurance will take care of the loan amount outstanding. Hence we suggest that there was a provision for covering the life thorough a product of the insurance company, the premium of which will be added to the loan amount and the borrower is not asked to pay this amount upfront.

Like any other life insurance, it will come helpful only in the case of a mishap and if nothing untoward happens, the insurance company is not bound to repay the premium paid, which will affect their business badly. Hence the suggestion of the commission to refund the premium collected in the cases where the loans are repaid correctly, is made without actually studying the issues, I am afraid.

I hope and request such judicial institutions to take an overall view of the issue and all the intricacies before passing such judgement, as such judgements put the Banker in a bad light.

THE NPA CONUNDROM

ഈ അടുത്തിടെ  ഉണ്ടായ ചില സംഭവങ്ങളിൽ പ്രതികരിക്കണം എന്ന് തോന്നിയത് കൊണ്ടാണ്  ഇത് കുറിക്കുന്നത് . ബാങ്കിൽ നിന്ന് എടുത്ത വായ്പ തിരിച്ചടക്കാതിരിക്കുന്നതിനു കാരണം അന്വേഷിച്ചു നടക്കുകയാണ് പലരും എന്ന് തോന്നുന്നു. ഏറ്റവും  ഒടുവിലത്തെ  സംഭവം ചേർത്തലയിലെ ഒരു രക്ഷിതാവിന്റെ ആത്മഹത്യയാണ്‌ . ബാങ്കിൽ നിന്ന് നോട്ടീസ് കിട്ടിയതിൽ മനം നൊന്താണ് ആത്മഹത്യ എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു എല്ലാവരും ബാങ്കിനെ പ്രതിക്കൂട്ടിലക്കുന്നതിനു ശ്രമിക്കുന്നത് കണ്ടു. ബാങ്കുകൾ വ്യാവസായികടിസ്ഥാനതിൽ പ്രവര്ത്തിക്കുന്ന സ്ഥാപനങ്ങൾ ആണ്. വായ്പ കൊടുക്കുന്നത് പോലെ തന്നെ പ്രാധാന്യം ഉള്ള കാര്യം ആണ് അത് തിരിച്ചടപ്പിക്കുക എന്നതും . അതിനുള്ള നടപടികൾ കൈക്കൊള്ളുന്ന ബാങ്ക് ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥരെ പഴിക്കുന്നതിൽ ഒരു ന്യായവും കാണുന്നില്ല . വായ്പ എടുക്കുന്ന ഒരു വ്യക്തി പ്രധാനമായും നോക്കേണ്ടത് അത് തിരിച്ചടക്കാനുള്ള കഴിവ് തനിക്കുന്ടോ എന്നതാണ് . ഈടൊന്നും നല്കാതെ വായ്പ ലഭിക്കും എന്നുള്ള ഒറ്റ കാരണം കൊണ്ടു മാത്രം മക്കളെ ഉന്നത വിദ്യാഭ്യാസത്തിനു അയക്കുന്നതിൽ അർഥം ഉണ്ടോ ?പഠനം കഴിഞ്ഞാല ജോലി ലഭിക്കുമോ , ലഭിക്കുമെങ്കിൽ വായ്പ തിരിച്ചടക്കുന്നതിനു തികയുമോ എന്നുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങൾ ആദ്യമേ ചിന്തിക്കേണ്ടതല്ലേ ? ഇതൊന്നും കാണാതെ അവസാനം ജോലി കിട്ടാതിരിക്കുകയോ വളരെ തുച്ചമായ ശമ്പളം ലഭിക്കുകയോ ചെയ്യുമ്പോൾ ബാങ്കിനെ പഴിക്കുന്നതിൽ എന്ത് ന്യായമാണ് ഉള്ളത് ?

വിദ്യാഭ്യാസ വായ്പകൾ എഴുതിത്തള്ളണം , സർകാർ ഏറ്റെടുക്കണം തുടങ്ങിയ ആവശ്യങ്ങളും ഇന്ത്യൻ നേര്സേസ് പരെന്റ്സ്‌ അസോസിയേഷൻ എന്നാ സംഘടന മുന്നോട്ടു വച്ചതായി കണ്ടു . ഇതിനു എന്ത് ന്യായീകരണം  ആണ് ഉള്ളത്. അങ്ങനെയാണെകിൽ പിന്നെ സർകാർ സൌജന്യമായി എല്ലാ വിദ്യാഭ്യാസവും ഏർപ്പാടാക്കണം എന്ന് പറയുന്നതല്ലേ നല്ലത് ? ഈ പ്രവണത മുളയിലെ നുള്ളിയില്ലെങ്കിൽ ഗുരുതരമായ പ്രത്യാഘാതം ഉണ്ടാകുമെന്നാണ് എന്റെ അഭിപ്രായം .

ഇത് കാണുമ്പൊൾ പലരും ബാങ്കുകളിലെ കിട്ടാക്കടത്തെ പറ്റിയും വിജയ്‌ മല്യയുടെ വിദേശ യാത്രയെപ്പറ്റിയും പറയുമായിരിക്കും . വിജയ്‌ മല്യയുടെ കടം തിരിച്ചു പിടിക്കുന്നതിനു കാല  താമസം വരുമായിരിക്കാം , പക്ഷെ കിട്ടില്ല എന്ന് പറയാൻ പറ്റില്ലല്ലോ . ഇതിനു വേണ്ട സഹായം നമ്മുടെ നീതി ന്യായ വ്യവസ്ഥയിൽ നിന്ന് തക്ക സമയത്ത് കിട്ടുന്നില്ല എന്നതാണ് സത്യം. പക്ഷെ അങ്ങിനെ ഒരു വലിയ കടം ഉണ്ട് എന്നുള്ളത് കൊണ്ടു മറ്റു ചെറിയ കടങ്ങൾ തിരിച്ചടക്കില്ല എന്ന് പറയുന്നത് ബാലിശമാണ് . നമ്മുടെ സര്കാരും രാഷ്ട്രീയക്കാരും ഇതിനു കൂട്ട് നില്ക്കരുത് എന്ന ഒരു അപേക്ഷ മാത്രമേ വൈക്കുന്നുള്ളൂ . 

ഞാൻ ബാങ്കിൽ ജോലി ചെയ്യുന്ന സമയത്ത് പലപ്പോഴും കാണാൻ കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടുള്ള ഒരു കാര്യമാണ് വായ്പ ലഭിക്കും എന്നത് കൊണ്ടു മാത്രം വായ്പ എടുക്കുന്നത് . ഒരു അനുഭവം പങ്കു വൈക്കാം . ഒരിക്കൽ ഒരു ബ്രാഞ്ച് ഓഡിറ്റ്‌ ചെയ്യുന്ന സമയത്ത് ഒരു സ്ത്രീ മാനേജരുടെ അടുത്ത് മകന് ഒരു വിദ്യാഭ്യാസ വായ്പക്ക് വേണ്ടി വന്നു. പയ്യന് രണ്ടാമത്തെ ചാൻസിൽ 35 ശതമാനം മാർക്ക്‌ വാങ്ങി +2 പാസ്സായതാണ് . മാനേജർ താരതമ്യേന ജൂനിയർ ആയതു കൊണ്ടു അദ്ദേഹം എന്റെ അഭിപ്രായം ചോദിച്ചു . നാല് ലക്ഷം രൂപയാണ് വായ്പ ചോദിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത് . കർണ്ണാടകത്തിലെ ഒരു കോളേജിൽ നിന്നുള്ള കത്തും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു . ഞാൻ ആ സ്ത്രീയോട് ചോദിച്ചു മകൻ നെർസിങ്ങ് പഠിച്ചു പാസ്സാകുമോ എന്ന് . മറുപടി വളരെ പെട്ടെന്നായിരുന്നു . നാല് ലക്ഷം  രൂപ കൊടുത്താൽ അവർ പരീക്ഷ ഒക്കെ പാസ്സാക്കിക്കൊടുക്കും , വിദേശത്ത് ജോലിക്കുള്ള ഏർപ്പാടും ചെയ്തുകൊടുക്കും എന്ന് . ഈ പാവങ്ങളെ ഇങ്ങിനെ പറഞ്ഞു പറ്റിച്ചു കോളേജുകൾ പണം ഉണ്ടാക്കുന്നു . ഒടുവിൽ വിദ്യാർഥി പരീക്ഷ പാസ്സാകുകയും ഇല്ല , പാസ്സായാൽ തന്നെ നല്ല ഒരു ജോലിയും കിട്ടില്ല . അവസാനം വായ്പ തിരിച്ചു ചോദിക്കുമ്പോൾ മാനേജർ കുറ്റക്കാരനും ആകും . ഒരു വിധത്തിൽ ആ സ്ത്രീയെ പറഞ്ഞു മനസ്സിലാക്കി പിന്തിരിപ്പിച്ചു . അവർ മറ്റെവിടെയെങ്കിലും നിന്ന് വായ്പ എടുത്തോ എന്നറിയില്ല . ഇപ്പോൾ തന്നെ നേര്സുമാർ എത്ര തുച്ചമായ ശമ്പളത്തിലാണ് ജോലി ചെയ്യുന്നത് എന്ന് എല്ലാവര്ക്കും അറിയാം . അങ്ങിനെ ഒരു ജോലിക്ക് വേണ്ടി നാല് ലക്ഷം രൂപ ( ഈട് വേണ്ടാതെ കിട്ടുന്ന വായ്പ ) എടുക്കുന്നത് അഭികാമ്യം ആണോ എന്ന് രക്ഷിതാക്കൾ ചിന്തിക്കേണ്ട കാലം അതിക്രമിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു . രാഷ്ട്രീയ നേതാക്കളും ഇക്കാര്യത്തിൽ വ്യക്തമായ ഒരു  നിലപാട് എടുത്തു സാധാരണക്കാരെ ഇങ്ങിനെയുള്ള നിന്നും മുക്തരാക്കാനുള്ള നടപടികളാണ് എടുക്കേണ്ടത് . അല്ലാതെ വായ്പ നല്കാൻ വിസമ്മതിക്കുന്ന ബാങ്ക് മാനെജര്ക്കെതിരെയും വായ്പ തിരിച്ചു ചോദിക്കുന്ന മാനെജര്ക്കെതിരെയും ജന വികാരം ഇളക്കി വിടുകയല്ല ചെയ്യേണ്ടത് . അവർ പൊതുജനങ്ങളുടെ പണം കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യുന്നവർ  മാത്രമാണ് എന്നാ കാര്യം മറക്കരുത് എന്നാ ഒരു അഭ്യർത്ഥന മാത്രം നടത്തുന്നു . ഇക്കാര്യത്തിൽ പത്രങ്ങൾക്കും നല്ല ഒരു പങ്കു വഹിക്കാൻ കഴിയും എന്നാണ് എന്റെ വിശ്വാസം .

THE HIGH PROFILE WILFUL DEFAULTER

I am of the opinion that L'affaire Kingfisher Airlines has been blown out of proportion by the media.  The "wilful default" committed by Kingfisher Airlines and its promoter Mr Vijay Mallya and Mallya's leaving the country in haste have resulted in a big hungama with some TV channels spending hours of the airtime to hang Mr Mallya and also the Bankers involved.

I do not hold any brief either for Mr Mallya or for the Bankers involved, but would like to mention a few facts in the whole exercise.

First and foremost is the fact that the lending to the firm by the Bankers cannot be faulted now with the benefit of hindsight. At the time of initial proposal, everything might have been good on paper and the man behind the venture Mr Mallya himself , being a successful industrialist, there was no reason to suspect any untoward things happening in the future. And to the benefit of Bankers, it is also observed that they had obtained the corporate guarantee of United Breweries and personal guarantee of Mr Mallya for the exposure made to Kingfisher airlines, which is not done normally in the case of loans to big corporate houses. It is because of this particular step that the Banks are now able to go after Mr Mallya personally for recovering the dues. The supreme court can help the banks in the matter by directing Mr Mallya to declare all the assets owned by him, which can be attached thereafter for recovering the dues.In this, he will not be able to escape. 

Mr Mallya's leaving the country is blown out of proportion, it seems. Unless he turns defiant to the direction of supreme court to present himself before the court, we cannot fault his travel. Admitted that the Banks were a bit delatyed in making the move, but they had already approached DRT and High Court of Karnataka sufficiently early, who refused to issue orders on time. So much for the support of the legal system available to the Banks in recovering their dues!

It is a fact that the Banks were aware that the proposal to start a new airline was a losing proposition, but the losses were after meeting all the repayment commitments, as projected and hence Banks would not have bothered about that. For that matter except for one, all other private airlines are running in losses and so the failure of Kingfisher Airlines was not because of this but because of some deliberate diversion of funds from the business. It is at this point the Bankers need to be blamed. When it was known that the company was having problems, instead of finding out the actual reasons, the bankers went all out to "help" it by pumping in additional money and at this stage some banks even bought the shares from the promoters at a rate higher than the market rate, as part of restructuring, it seems!!!  And , as collateral for additional exposure they accepted the brand name of "Kingfisher"!!! (It is the first time I am hearing about accepting an intangible as collateral security by a Banker!! What a prudence!)

All said and done, I would expect the Banks to pursue the case relentlessly to ensure that Mr Mallya is shown his place and the total dues are recovered from all his assets as well as that of United Breweries invoking the guarantees available, which should serve as a lesson to other big corporates acting this way in future. Banks should also arrange to have a re look into the whole issue of Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) done for the Company, which has led to the present situation.

Another pertinent question that arises in the instant case is that whether Mr Mallya is eligible to continue as a Member of Rajya Sabha after he has been declared as a "wilful defaulter' by more than one bank. As far as I understand, a person will not be eligible to contest an election, if he is a loan defaulter and hence by the same logic, shouldn't his membership be cancelled by the Chairman immediately?

I hope instead of taking it as a corporate war, all the parties concerned should think logically and come to a situation where the public sector banks of the country are not taken for a ride by such unscrupulous businessman, whatever be their connections. The Bankers also need to rise above the political compulsions and work as prudent bankers when dealing with public money, whatever be the cost to be paid for the same. We should remember the likes of Mr Talwar, who  had shown courage to stand up and say NO to unjustified demands from political leaders!

 

AFTER EFFECTS OF A SUICIDE

The death of Mr Rohit Vemula in Hyderabad has once again brought back the issue of “intolerance “ to limelight. And everybody who is somebody has jumped into the bandwagon with their own interpretation of the whole incident. Allegations and counter allegations galore and everybody is trying hard to prove their point. But I feel everybody has missed some crucial points relevant or they chose to ignore these points

First of all I have not come across any statement condemning the act of suicide committed by Rohit. Being a bright scholar as reported, why did not he show the courage to stand up fearlessly and fight against the injustice, if it was done to him as is alleged? Where were these people who have come pledging support to him when he was alive and staying put in the campus fighting his case? Whatever be the provocation, suicide is not a solution to any problem at all. This message should be clearly given to the youth of our country, I believe. The Prime Minister has finally come out and said that after all the country and Rohit’s mother have lost a brilliant son.

I wonder why every issue that crops up is seen from the cast and religion angle only. Why doesn’t anyone go into the root causes of the incident and try to find out a solution for the same. If the reports are to be believed, the issue started with Rohit’s association with a students’ forum opposed to ABVP. In our country isn’t there a space for everybody to express their opinion? Why such differences of opinion lead to physical clashes in the campus? Isn’t it because of the political patronage enjoyed by these students’ organizations? In a University isn’t the Vice Chancellor the final authority regarding matters pertaining to the discipline of the university? Why outsiders should interfere or outsiders should be allowed to interfere in such matters? What was the interest of the central Minister in the tussle between Rohit and another student reported to an ABVP activist? Even if the Minister had written to VC seeking action against Rohit, wasn’t it the duty of the VC to apprise the Minister about the facts instead of meekly surrendering to the demand made by the Minister? Also what was the circumstances for forming a so called radical organization of which Rohit was reported to be a part? Has anybody try to analyse the basic reason for that?

Earlier there have been suggestions about de politicization of campuses in the country which have been vehemently opposed by almost all political parties. When we say de politicization, we only mean that the patronage the main line political parties to various students unions should end. Students should have freedom to form their own organizations to actively intervene in the affairs of the campus where they study and live and not become pawns in the hands of the main line politicians. Once they are out of the campus, they can join whatever political party they believe in and function accordingly. So ideally in a campus only one students' organization should be there to bargain for the students’ welfare.

I am sure the points mentioned above will not be palatable to the so called leaders but I urge upon the youth of the country to think on these lines and build a new India by their efforts.

MEDIA RUINING FAMILY/SOCIAL LIFE?

During my younger days, personal bonding among the family members and other relatives was much stronger, I believe. The family members used to take breakfast, dinner etc together and many things used to be discussed over the food, which used to be happy occasions too. Birthdays or anniversaries used to be pleasant occasions where everybody greeted the person (s) celebrating personally. Husband and wife, parents and children, siblings all had personal bonding among each other.

However, the scenario slowly changed with the advent of satellite televisions, mobile phones and the social media. Even though television made its presence in late seventies, it used to take limited time of the viewers, where all at home together watched the programme which was available for a limited time only. Earlier to that though All India Radio was present, it largely being an audio medium never used to steal the family time.

With the advent of satellite Televisions and multiplicity of visual media, be it news channels or entertainment channels, there started a cut throat competition among them to retain the TRP rating. With this in mind they started churning out “Breaking News” on news channels and other soap operas in entertainment channels. Even without verifying the veracity of the “Breaking News” the news hungry population started getting addicted to these channels and their panel discussions, which many often turns out to be much ado about nothing!. Similarly the soap operas started affecting the routine of those who started watching them, by adjusting their chores as per the timings of these serials. (Of course, I remember in the days of Doordarshan only when “Mahabharat” used to attract huge viewership, any function on Sundays used to be timed after the telecast of this serial was over and at some places of celebration they had made arrangements for telecasting the serial on large screens with due publicity, so that the invitees will be in their seats even before the function started to view the serial!)

After the AV revolution, there came the internet, social media and the smart phones!!! Though all these have helped the human race in a large way, the bad effects of these should be seen to be believed. Now everybody who is having some earnings possesses a Smartphone and accessing face book and Whatsapp has become a daily chore like. It has gone to such an extent that it seems something untoward will happen if a person did not browse to access his mails or posted his latest status in FB instantly. So now even if somebody visits you at home, the host as well as the guests will be grossly immersed with their smart phones and hardly any conversation takes place. If it is the time for any popular serial, in between they watch that too, without much talk.

And the use of FB has gone to such an extent that now- a -days even the husband and wife , who normally share at least the bed rooms, wish each other on birthdays and anniversaries through FB!

And talking about the smart phones, you can see everybody playing with their proud possessions, wherever they are, be it at a bus stop, in the office, walking on the road and even in meeting rooms!! Since everybody in the meeting room right from the person presiding over the function will be engaged in this, nobody takes objection to such attitude in the meetings too…

There are some casualties also in this Smartphone and FB activity. Many unverified statements fly around through these media as everybody shares whatever they receive over these platforms without verifying the veracity of what has been received. There is a danger of spreading false information/rumours also through these media because of this. And we also read about spreading the morphed images of persons through these media thereby defaming the persons affected. And thinking that brevity is the beauty of the message, these people use their own language killing the English language to save time in typing the message. Thus “the” becomes “d”, “forget” becomes “4get”  “together” becomes “2gether” etc.

While I fully agree that the technological advantages should be fully taken benefit of, I am of the opinion that this should not be at the cost of our family and social life. Let us reinvent the personal values and personal bonding which will go a long way in the social life, even if it means sacrificing some time we spent on the TV and social media.

ENTRY OF LADIES IN SABARIMALA TEMPLE

It is unfortunate a fresh controversy has been started by the observation made by Supreme Court regarding the denial of entry to Sabarimala to ladies.

I fully support the observations made by the Court as I have been very strongly arguing on this issue for the past about 30 years. Just in the name of tradition it is not fair to bar anybody their constitutional rights, I feel. If thee is a ritual, it should be based on some logic reasoning and not merely on the gender of the pilgrim.

Before proceeding further let me state that I am a hindu by birth and I am also a member of the local NSS Karayogam. Today a statement attributed to the NSS President also has appeared in newspapers saying that NSS will get impleaded in the petition and argue for continuing the existing tradition. I do not know who have him the mandate to speak on behalf of all members of Nair community. I would like to know whether NSS had conducted a referendum on the issue to know the opinion of the members before making such statements on a controversial issue.

While it is true that traditionally ladies in the age group of 10 to 50 years are not permitted to visit the shrine, on the plea that the deity is a "brahmachari". I have not read in any scriptures that ladies should not go in front of a Brahmachari. I would light to get enlightened on this point from others. Even if this argument is taken on face value, why the age group of 10 to 50 years? Another argument put forward is that the visit to the shrine involves strict "vrutham" for 41 days involving personal purity and it may not be possible for the ladies in the particular age group to observe this , possible a hint to the monthly menstrual cycle. Two questions arise on this argument. One, how many people visiting the shrine observe this strict vrutham for 41 days? Is there any mechanism to check this? If not why only target ladies on this? Second is the question of individual purity. Who has said the monthly menstrual cycles makes the body of a lady impure? Isn't it a biological process to keep her body fit always? Why should we treat it as impurity? Again, even if we take this also for argument's sake, what is the guarantee that girls below 10 years and ladies above 50 years are beyond this? There have been instances where girst below 10 years attains puberty and ladies above 50 not reaching menopause. So how would you differentiate such persons?

Finally, if you consider all these, we can come to a conclusion that the tradition has not been based on either of these counts. As far as I believe it might be based on the arduous journey people used to undertake for the pilgrimage to the hill shrine in the olden days which used to take days and months together , which might have been difficult for the ladies to undertake given the transport conditions, absence of other basic infrastructural facilities etc. In the modern days, people go to the shrine in the morning and return in the evening and hence it has become more or less a picnic for many and hence I do not think denying the right of entry to ladies to this shrine on whatever ground is not correct and it needs to be changed. I hope the court will consider all the above points and give a ruling  to this directions and the government and other so called "religious" and communal leaders will accept the verdict with humility without creating more problems.

What is Martyrdom?

The terrorist attack at Air Force Station Pathankot is highly condemnable and the security lapse, if any, as alleged by some people, has to be looked into seriously by the Government.

The personnel who were killed in the attack also need to be honored and their family taken care of well.

However, with all due respect to the departed commnados, I would like to strike a different note , which may not be palatable to many, in the case of deceased Lt Colonel Niranjan, who was killed on the second day. As per the reports available Lt Colonel Niranjan was killed when he was trying to diffuse the grenade on the body of a killed terrorist. Does that need to be considered as an encounter death, I wonder. Simply put, it only implies that the commando did not know how to do his job.First of all what was the need for a Lt Colonel trying to diffuse the grenade? Second, even if he had to, what type of precautions he had taken to handle such a job? Was he technically qualified to handle the job? If yes how did the grenade explode during the operation? All these questions need to be answered before we confer any bravery award or honors on the departed commando. I, for a moment, do not mean to belittle the sacrifice made by him in the operation nor am I casting any aspersions on his ability. Only question is should the death under such circumstances be treated as a great sacrifice fighting the terrorists?