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