Gap between promise and practice

It is a matter of great disappointment that there is a big gap between what was promised initially in 2009 and what turned out ultimately in 2016 when the dignitary is about to demit his office as the President of USA.

Barack Obama pledged in a landmark speech at Hradcany Square in Prague on April 5, 2009 that he would take steps toward a nuclear-free world. But he is likely to leave office having overseen the start if an upgrade in America's nuclear arsenal.

He behaved the same way like some of his processors in office in the past.

+++++++++++

Schools closed in 12 districts of Tamil Nadu today November 30, 2015

Copious rains! Almost all the lakes and ponds in the state are overflowing with flood waters. Water falls in the hilly regions too pouring large quantity of water with stones and branches of trees in places like Courtallam.

Farmers in the countryside have welcome the incessant rains despite damage to the standing crops in some pockets. About 50 villages in Vellore district are celebrating with community feasts and thanking the rain gods for filling the five lakes in their area which remained dry in the last three years.

Almost all the roads - major and minor, large and small in the urban areas have been damaged making the life of road users and local residents miserable for the last few days. Despite the sincere steps taken by the municipal administration and the state government the woes of the citizens continue to prolong. Such a sorry state of affairs have been compounded by the indifference and inefficiency in the working of the officials and public representatives. Even the courts' directions have not brought any changes over a period of time in the situation.

Like in the developed world we should have done the home work in advance and take measures to store the rain water and prevent excess water from flowing into the seas. Is there any mechanism or manpower concerned with this issue in a systematic way and ensure corrective arrangement in the near future? Sorry to say, none seems to be in the pipeline!

++++++++++++++++

Renaming of a road in the capital city of new Delhi

The New Delhi Municipal Council has substituted the name of Aurangazeb road with that of APJ Abdul Kalam. It has been questioned by a lawyer before the Delhi High Court.

The powers of the municipal body in this regard are not questionable although the same are subject to a judicial review. But the naming of a structure or a facility after a high dignitary living or dead within the last 50 or 100 years is normally not to be encouraged, however esteemed or revered a person may be by the public. A good convention could be the naming done of an individual at least 100 years after his expiry. The nation and its history is not short of great names for this purpose.

This could be either decided by the Parliament or adjudicated by the Supreme Court of India.

+++++++++++++

India's skill gap

Addressing India's skill gap with MOOCs( Massive Open Online Courses) engaged in skill-building opportunities on demand. (Kabir Chadha - The Hindu September 2, 2015) 

An online talent assessment company called Wheebox indicated in its 2014 India Skills Report that just 10 per cent of MBA graduates and 17 percent of engineering graduates in the country are employable. With online courses students can take charge of their own learning and ensure their education also prepares the for the workplace.

We produce MBA graduates and Engineering graduates in Lakhs every year in India. Just to get paper degrees with no scope for direct employment? If it is true why not be selective in terms of numbers as per the much-needed manpower planning

Judge secures future of orphaned boys after sentencing father to life

Place: Mahila Court, Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. (Friday, January 8, 2016)

Case: Murder of his wife by an alcoholic husband being sentenced to life imprisonment 

Effect: Three sons (aged between 11& 7) of the couple being orphaned with no relatives prepared to take care.

Action of the judge Ms J.Flora: 
She talked to the kids, learnt their helplessness, summoned the maternal uncle of the children with lot of difficulty, convinced him for a few days of custody and left the court room only after ensuring their protection in a home run by Roman Catholic Missionaries. She left the office only at 7.30 PM to reach her house where  her son was waiting for the mother.

Hats off to such a judge in our midst. India is in safe hands. I wrote a letter and thanked her for such a gesture.

I also salute the Christian Missionaries for their selfless and silent service to humanity in India where I find Hindu Mutts having no inclination to engage in such humanitarian work.
++++++++++++++++

Debate over projecting IAS officer as CM candidate in Tamil Nadu

One young IAS officer by name U.Sagayam who had been responsible for the exposure of a big granite scam in and around Madurai town involving thousands of crores of rupees and benefitting many officials and nonofficials in the recent past in the state of Tamil Nadu is being tipped for the post of CM by a section of socitey in the coming elections in 2016. Follow up action on his voluminous report is awaited on the directions of Madras high Court in the days to come. His boldness in the job and simple living at the home front have earned him a good reputation in the last 5-6 years. The manner in which the political parties have conducted in the last 3-4 decades have forced the majority of voters to think in terms of an alternative party well suited for correcting the malady that has set in the governmance and administration of Tamil Nadu State. Hence the cry for an IAS officer to serve as the CM of Tamil Nadu like Arvind Kejriwal (an IRS officer) in Delhi.  

 

A mixed reaction both in favour and against an individual being projected for the post of chief minister has been discussed in detail by taking the opinions of former civil servants and a professor of Madras University in the Hindu edition dated December 27,2015. It was even quoted therein that honest and committed individuals like M.S. Udayamurthy, a social worker and R.Nallakannu, a CPI leader have failed to ensure success in the hustings at last.

 

Indian democracy is yet to mature and permit a group of highly qualified and  experienced with no family liabiltities to carry conviction with a workable agenda promising a clean and efficient government so that the present set up can be thrown away and the rule of law can be established for the general welfare and impartial administration. Officers like Sagayam should continue in service and serve as responsible and conscious Secretaries and chief secrtaries in the state in the days to come.

 

A group of experienced and committed officials either sitting or superannuated can collect themselelves for a common cause, form a political party and serve the state for a term as the founders and leave the mantle to the youngsters in a democratic way to rule this state for 2-3 decades and enable the state to regain its primacy in several fields of economic and social sectors.

Cheap popularity and damning strategy among the masses

It all started in 1967 in the state of Tamil Nadu ( previously called Madras state in the Republic of India ) when the DMK party headed by C.N.Annadurai ( a great scholar, writer, orator and an honest soul to the core and his early demise in office was a great loss to Tamil population) snatched the political power from the Congress party by promising distribution of rice at one rupee a measure (equivalent to about one and a half kilograms) to the ration-card holders. The first non-congress government came to power on the basis of such a promise on the eve of elections. As usual the election manifesto did hardly throw light on the financial as well as the possible adverse impact on the expenditure towards creation and maintenance of basic infrastructure ( at a great opportunity cost ) needed for economic development. The said promise was partially implemented but the original author of the scheme passed away very soon leaving the mantle of responsibility to his successor chief ministers both in DMK and AIADMK parties till date. The legacy of such freebies normally being announced on the eve of general elections has not only broadened in their sweep and numbers in the state of Tamil Nadu but also got extended to other parts and states in the country thereafter.

The budget for basic infrastructure and other economic services got reduced over a period of time with mounting deficits beyond the repaying capacity of those states as also serving the interests of their own employees growing in Lakhs and Lakhs. For instance no irrigation dam worth-noting came in existence in the state of Tamil Nadu in the last fifty years after the exit of K.Kamaraj, the C.M of repute in every sense  of the term. The result, the state has not developed like Singapore but has remained a poor developing economy still.

++++++++++