These days, the media in Kerala is all agog with excitement and provides a daily dose of interesting stories concerning a big, still unfurling fraud that's known by the sobriquet, 'the solar scam case'.
For the layman, the case is all about a con couple - Saritha and Biju - who went about swindling money from unsuspecting people, in the name of setting up domestic/industrial plants working on solar energy, unabashedly brandishing their political patronage to bring difficult customers to toe their line. From the stories that have come out thus far, the fraud couple seems to have had unrestricted access to anyone and everyone that matter in the corridors of power. The chief minister, immediately on taking over, had thrown open his office to public gaze and had even installed an electronic surveillance system within his office and the secretariat, to emphasise that he'd nothing to hide in his official dealings and that his chief ministership was like an open book for all to see.
But the fact of the matter seems to be that the fraud duo had patronage within his secretariat! As the details of telephonic conversations of the couple get analysed, the sad fact is that they'd friends across the political spectrum. Many heads might roll, a lot many reputations - carefully built over a period - are gonna bite the dust. These would be the short term effects and I do not have anything to say as I'm no political commentator and also because the matter is being probed. But what seems to be glossed over and is getting buried in the din is the enormous power that is wielded by the personal staff of our ministers or the secretariat.
The coterie - I'm gonna call them that - is chosen from the closest associates of the political leader. The personal attributes of integrity, education, people skills and finer aspects of behaviour have no weightage in their selection. Boorish behaviour - a studied aloofness, an air of self importance, tendency to stonewall efforts at meeting his boss, a continuous tryst on the telephones and an obnoxious arrogance - is but the 'sine qua non' of these extra constitutional authorities! Their political bosses would be much more accessible and people friendly in comparison!! Using their clout arising from their proximity to the seats of power, they go about attaining their personal goals - unthinkable to the common man - without compunction or guilt!!!
It's high time that the selection process of the personal staff of ministers is streamlined to ensure that merit and above all, integrity of the highest order is assured.
Tailpiece.
Is it wishful thinking because the cynical masses have long since surmised that the 'backroom guys' of the seat of power are essentially the fixers, the dealers and the middlemen? They're a must for their leader's survival, you see!
For the layman, the case is all about a con couple - Saritha and Biju - who went about swindling money from unsuspecting people, in the name of setting up domestic/industrial plants working on solar energy, unabashedly brandishing their political patronage to bring difficult customers to toe their line. From the stories that have come out thus far, the fraud couple seems to have had unrestricted access to anyone and everyone that matter in the corridors of power. The chief minister, immediately on taking over, had thrown open his office to public gaze and had even installed an electronic surveillance system within his office and the secretariat, to emphasise that he'd nothing to hide in his official dealings and that his chief ministership was like an open book for all to see.
But the fact of the matter seems to be that the fraud duo had patronage within his secretariat! As the details of telephonic conversations of the couple get analysed, the sad fact is that they'd friends across the political spectrum. Many heads might roll, a lot many reputations - carefully built over a period - are gonna bite the dust. These would be the short term effects and I do not have anything to say as I'm no political commentator and also because the matter is being probed. But what seems to be glossed over and is getting buried in the din is the enormous power that is wielded by the personal staff of our ministers or the secretariat.
The coterie - I'm gonna call them that - is chosen from the closest associates of the political leader. The personal attributes of integrity, education, people skills and finer aspects of behaviour have no weightage in their selection. Boorish behaviour - a studied aloofness, an air of self importance, tendency to stonewall efforts at meeting his boss, a continuous tryst on the telephones and an obnoxious arrogance - is but the 'sine qua non' of these extra constitutional authorities! Their political bosses would be much more accessible and people friendly in comparison!! Using their clout arising from their proximity to the seats of power, they go about attaining their personal goals - unthinkable to the common man - without compunction or guilt!!!
It's high time that the selection process of the personal staff of ministers is streamlined to ensure that merit and above all, integrity of the highest order is assured.
Tailpiece.
Is it wishful thinking because the cynical masses have long since surmised that the 'backroom guys' of the seat of power are essentially the fixers, the dealers and the middlemen? They're a must for their leader's survival, you see!
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