The politician vs. the bureaucrat.

In the wake of the tragic road accident that led to the death of Gopinath Munde, a union minister, the Transport Commissioner, Mr. Rishiraj Singh had passed a circular to his force of the motor vehicles department to enforce Section 138(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act which requires all passengers in a car to wear seat belts. Accordingly, the department has been on a drive, for the past few days, to nab errant travellers.

And, as per the usual 'Malayalee psyche', he'd to bitch about the unnecessary loss of freedom(?).

It's this order that the transport minister - from the August precincts of the state's legislative assembly - has asked his transport commissioner to withdraw forthwith little realising that he's doing a disservice to the general public. What makes it all the more laughable is that a sound decision has been nullified by a hasty, playing-up-to-the-gallery sort of an order.

Why do I call it a sound decision? It's because:-

  (a) All cars of the day are of a high definition that can do speeds above 100 kmph with ease.
  (b) The roads and the highways are generally good and the permissible speed of driving has been raised
        to 90 kmph.
  (c) It makes perfect sense to insist on the wearing of seat belts by every passenger to avoid grievous
       injury if and when the driver were to apply the brakes suddenly in an emergency!
  (d) To cite impracticality in execution due to the many cars of older vintage that ply on the roads is
        balderdash as none of them can do high speeds.

Then, how has this turn around come about? Again, the answers are not hard to find:-

  (a) Rishiraj Singh has made an impression among the people of Kerala as an honest and efficient cop.
  (b) His drive against over speeding buses - both government owned and private - and the insistence of
        the installation of the 'speed governors' in every vehicle made him an overnight hero among the general
        public and he was the toast of the media, being invited to chat shows and interviews on the FM
        channels much to the anguish of his contemporaries in the political arena and they're waiting for an
        occasion to 'clip his wings'.
  (c) He's given the Motor Vehicles Department - the much ridiculed, maligned as a corrupt and inept
       organisation - a fresh lease of life with a certain amount of self respect in themselves, after taking
       over its reins.

The general public might now heave a sigh of relief for having gotten out of this 'silly' order to their own disadvantage and will realise the seriousness when fatalities increase on account of this lapse. It baffles me just like the rule that mandates helmets for the drivers of two wheelers and does not insist on the same for the pillion riders, who're susceptible to graver injuries! Will we learn, ever?


Tailpiece.

While travelling in a flight recently, I found to my disbelief that the gentleman - from the clothes that he was wearing and his general demeanour, I'd concluded that he was knowledgeable - sitting next to me, unfastening his seat belt soon after the touchdown and the aircraft was on its long taxiing roll. I'd reminded him that it was necessary to continue to wear the seat belt till the aircraft came to a complete halt to prevent a mishap if the pilot were to jam on the brakes in case of an emergency. He took me to be a pesky co-traveller and held the belt without buckling it, to satisfy me but was mumbling something incoherent all the way to the dispersal!