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. Sachin BaikarAugust 12, 2018 at 9:05 PM

    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. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 12, 2018 at 10:09 PM

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

      Delete
  2. Jyotirmoy SarkarAugust 13, 2018 at 8:20 AM

    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. Tomichan MatheikalAugust 13, 2018 at 8:33 AM

      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. Rajeev MoothedathAugust 13, 2018 at 11:37 AM

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

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teaching is a Relationship

I met Ms Dhanya Ramachandran a few years ago at one of the centralised evaluation camps of CBSE. Then we met again every year for the same purpose until I retired from teaching officially. I’m not sure whether it’s her Mona Lisa smile or her commendable efficiency with the job that drew my attention more to her. Last week I came to know that Dhanya (let me take the liberty of calling her so) received an award for her contributions to the cause of education. I wished to bring her to a wider audience for the cause of education and hence requested an interview. What follows is the result. Since it is an email interview, it has its limitations. Nevertheless, Dhanya comes alive here. Over to the interview.  Tomichan : Hi Ms Dhanya Ramachandran, please introduce yourself for the sake of the readers of this blog. Dhanya : Hello. I am Dhanya Ramachandran, a passionate educator with diverse background. My career journey began in journalism, but life took me on a different path, leading
6 comments
Read more

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
44 comments
Read more

Why do you fear my way so much?

Book Review Title: Why do you fear my way so much? Author: G N Saibaba Publisher: Speaking Tiger, New Delhi, 2022 Pages: 216 G N Saibaba breathed his last on 12 Oct 2024 at the age of 57. It may be more correct to say that he was killed by the government of his country just as Rev Stan Swamy and a lot many others were. Stan Swamy was an octogenarian, suffering from severe Parkinson’s disease and other ailments, when he was arrested under the draconian UAPA. He died in prison at the age of 84 labelled by his government as a traitor. G N Saibaba was a professor of English in Delhi University when he was arrested in 2014 under UAPA for alleged links with treasonous Maoist groups. Polio had rendered him absolutely incapable of free movement right from childhood. The prison authorities deprived him even of his wheelchair, making life incredibly brutal for him in the Anda cell of Nagpur Central Prison. The egg-shaped cell (‘anda’ means egg in India’s putative national language) i
6 comments
Read more

Octlantis

I was reading an essay on octopuses when friend John walked in. When he is bored of his usual activities – babysitting and gardening – he would come over. Politics was the favourite concern of our conversations. We discussed politics so earnestly that any observer might think that we were running the world through the politicians quite like the gods running it through their devotees. “Octopuses are quite queer creatures,” I said. The essay I was reading had got all my attention. Moreover, I was getting bored of politics which is irredeemable anyway. “They have too many brains and a lot of hearts.” “That’s queer indeed,” John agreed. “Each arm has a mind of its own. Two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are found in their arms. The arms can taste, touch, feel and act on their own without any input from the brain.” “They are quite like our politicians,” John observed. Everything is linked to politics in John’s mind. I was impressed with his analogy, however. “Perhaps, you’re r
34 comments
Read more

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart
14 comments
Read more