Skip to main content

Politics need not be a bad word



It’s rather rarely one comes across an article that highlights the goodness of politicians. Today I stumbled upon one such article in Malayalam written by one Abdul Rasheed. He mentions how G. Sudhakaran got a bank to write off a loan in order to save an old, impoverished woman from losing her home. Just a few phone calls and some instructions: that’s all what it took for the minister to bring a new life to that woman.

The writer also appreciates the recent visit made by Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala to the flood affected regions of the state. They shared the same helicopter putting aside their political rivalry.
 
Image courtesy Yoyo daily
The article goes on to say that Pinarayi’s government has already extended financial help to 234899 people in the last two years of its governance. A sum of ₹ 423 crore reached those people from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Most of that money came from the state-run lotteries though there are also some contributions from generous and compassionate people.

The Pinarayi government has expedited the process of extending financial support to the needy by making the application process online. There’s no need now for the person to go to Thiruvananthapuram and run from pillar to post and bribe the bureaucrats. The application can be submitted online and if it is approved the money is transferred to the account of the person within 100 hours. When Pinarayi took charge as Chief Minister, there were 30,000 applications awaiting action. An exceptionally quick action was taken by the Left government in this regard.

Rasheed contrasts this with what’s happening in many other states. Middlemen steal much of the money from the relief funds in many states, he says.

The Chief Minister’s Relief Fund is functioning with enviable transparency in Kerala and the money is reaching the right people at the right time. Due to the present flood crisis faced by the state, a lot of people have made generous contributions to the Fund. ₹ 1.75 crore was donated from 26 July to 9 Aug. Those who wish to contribute can remit the amount to:
Account Number: 67319948232
Bank: SBI City Branch, Thiruvananthapuram
IFSC: SBIN0070028


Comments

  1. Interesting read 👍 In crisis situations all have to keep aside their differences and work together.Sad to hear about the floods in Kerala. But as you mentioned it is good to know the money is reaching the right people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No wonder the Public Affairs Index ranked Kerala no.1 for the third consecutive time. India deserves a left turn.

      Delete
  2. It is great to know that relief funds are reaching to the people whenever necessary, hopefully the flood affected people will get over the loses soon. Middlemen making their own profit is very common and there lies the problem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sangh parivar asked people not to donate to the chief minister's fund. But a temple in Kerala donated its entire collection. That's Kerala.

      http://www.doolnews.com/how-keralas-hindu-community-reacted-to-sangh-parivar-hate-speech-kerala-temple-donates-entire-treasury-collections-to-disaster-relief-fund.html

      Delete
  3. It is wonderful to read good stories about politics and politicians for a change...

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Randeep the melody

Many people in this pic have made their presence in this A2Z series A phone call came from an unknown number the other day. “Is it okay to talk to you now, Sir?” The caller asked. The typical start of a conversation by an influencer. “What’s it about?” My usual response looking forward to something like: “I am so-and-so from such-and-such business firm…” And I would cut the call. But there was a surprise this time. “I am Randeep…” I recognised him instantly. His voice rang like a gentle music in my heart. Randeep was a student from the last class 12 batch of Sawan. One of my favourites. He is unforgettable. Both Maggie and I taught him at Sawan where he was a student from class 4 to 12. Nine years in a residential school create deep bonds between people, even between staff and students. Randeep was an ideal student. Good at everything yet very humble and spontaneous. He was a top sportsman and a prefect with eminent leadership. He had certain peculiar problems with academics. Ans

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl

Sanjay and other loyalists

AI-generated illustration Some people, especially those in politics, behave as if they are too great to have any contact with the ordinary folk. And they can get on with whoever comes to power on top irrespective of their ideologies and principles. Sanjay was one such person. He occupied some high places in Sawan school [see previous posts, especially P and Q ] merely because he knew how to play his cards more dexterously than ordinary politicians. Whoever came as principal, Sanjay would be there in the elite circle. He seemed to hold most people in contempt. His respect was reserved for the gentry. I belonged to the margins of Sawan society, in Sanjay’s assessment. So we hardly talked to each other. Looking back, I find it quite ludicrous to realise that Sanjay and I lived on the same campus 24x7 for a decade and a half without ever talking to each other except for official purposes.      Towards the end of our coexistence, Sawan had become a veritable hell. Power supply to the

Thomas the Saint

AI-generated image His full name was Thomas Augustine. He was a Catholic priest. I knew him for a rather short period of my life. When I lived one whole year in the same institution with him, I was just 15 years old. I was a trainee for priesthood and he was many years my senior. We both lived in Don Bosco school and seminary at a place called Tirupattur in Tamil Nadu. He was in charge of a group of boys like me. Thomas had little to do with me directly as I was under the care of another in-charge. But his self-effacing ways and angelic smile drew me to him. He was a living saint all the years I knew him later. When he became a priest and was in charge of a section of a Don Bosco institution in Kochi, I met him again and his ways hadn’t changed an iota. You’d think he was a reincarnation of Jesus if you met him personally. You won’t be able to meet him anymore. He passed away a few years ago. One of the persons whom I won’t ever forget, can’t forget as long as the neurons continu

Pranita a perverted genius

Bulldozer begins its work at Sawan Pranita was a perverted genius. She had Machiavelli’s brain, Octavian’s relentlessness, and Levin’s intellectual calibre. She could have worked wonders if she wanted. She could have created a beautiful world around her. She had the potential. Yet she chose to be a ruthless exterminator. She came to Sawan Public School just to kill it. A religious cult called Radha Soami Satsang Beas [RSSB] had taken over the school from its owner who had never visited the school for over 20 years. This owner, a prominent entrepreneur with a gargantuan ego, had come to the conclusion that the morality of the school’s staff was deviating from the wavelengths determined by him. Moreover, his one foot was inching towards the grave. I was also told that there were some domestic noises which were grating against his patriarchal sensibilities. One holy solution for all these was to hand over the school and its enormous campus (nearly 20 acres of land on the outskirts