Frequent transfers of officials

The state government of Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 had transfered a few administrative officials posted in the districts and Secretariat. Some of them like the collectors of Thiruvarur and Coimbatore have been reshuffled in a few weeks time. There is no doubt that the government has got the authority to post any one it likes in certain positions according to its convenience and need. A semblance of a set policy and norms for shifting of officials would enhance the transparency and ability of those who control the all-india cadres. After all the public interest should be the criterion on such occasions. Otherwise it would only reflect our inefficiency in judging people and extracting work from the permanent executive in the longer run.

State Government's vow

Tha State government of Tamil Nadu has planned toilets for all by 2015. Similarly it has decided to construct some 1.85 lakh housing units at a cost of Rs 17230 crore in the next five years for the growing urban population - 1.43 lakh units for the economically weaker sections and the rest for low,middle and high income groups.

It is indeed a noble plan! We wish the planners and executioners a great success.

Pongal Gifts of Times of India

On January 15, 2012, the Times of India announced two Pongal gifts in the form of two head-lines on the very first page: "Indian students rank second-last in global test" & "Super power? 230 millions go hungry daily"

Fifteen-year-old Indians (Two Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh selected by the central Government to participate in the PISA -Programme for International Student Assesssment conducted annually to evaluate education systems worldwide by the OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ) who were put for the first time on a global stage stood second to last , only beating Kyrgystan when tested on their reading, math and science abilities.

Shanghai (China)'s more than one quarter of its 15-year-olds demonstrated advanced mathematical thinking skills to solve complex problems, compared to an OECD average of just 3%. In fact the province of Shanghai which participated for the first time in PISA scored the highest in reading as well as math and science. Kudos to my Chinese friends for their extraordinary feat! Indian IITs don't stand for the whole of Indian education system. What will happen to my India's future with such youngsters in our midst?

Second Gift:

With 21% of its population undernourished, nearly 44% of its under-5 children underweight and 7% of them dying before they reach five years, India is firmly established among the world's most hunger-ridden countries . The situation is better than only Congo, Chad, Ehiopia or Burundi, but it is worse than Sudan, North Korea, Pakistan or Nepal.

There is no need for further analysis of this situation. Kudos to Indian planners, political leaders and administrators!