News bytes again continue to baffle me, the main aspects being the sheer audacity of the news makers and the ridiculous extent to which the people go towards justifying their point of view. Here are a few of those that have hogged the headlines for no rhyme or reason!
(a) Free travel.
The transport minister has pompously announced free travel for school students, up to class XII,
from 01 Feb 2015. This was in response to a request by his own party MLA to reduce the bus
fares in view of the lower prices of diesel in the market. About 1,30,000 students who've been
paying concessional fares, thus far, are gonna be the beneficiaries. Now, consider this too.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is debt ridden - surviving on frequent fund
transfusions by the government for its survival - and has not been able to pay its staff and
pensioners, their emoluments for the past so many months and the court has had to intervene
many a time to ensure the disbursal, albeit partially, to ensure their survival!
What does one make out of this absurd offer? Why don't we have ministers who really work
for the well being of the people and make laws appropriate to the need of the hour rather than
jump for populist measures. This is gonna have a cascading effect and there will be a clamour
for the reduction of fares on the private buses which, in turn, is gonna be the bone of contention
between the private bus owners and the student unions.
Consequential disruption of classes and damage to public property cannot be ruled out.
(b) They call it 'welcoming back home....'
A zealous BJP leader has gone about overseeing reconversion of Muslims into Hindus and
news has it that the 60 odd families of Agra have been promised Aadhaar cards and other
governmental schemes on priority. The latest news is that they've been left in the lurch by
both the Hindu and the Muslim communities and one can only imagine their plight! Thanks
to the media, their case has got publicity and I reckon that something positive will be done by
the government towards their rehabilitation.
Why are these fringe groups and madcaps allowed to get away with such idiotic stuff? It
cannot be forgotten that the people had overwhelmingly voted for Modi and his party as they'd
promised good governance. The fringe groups must definitely be put in their place.
(c) Where's propriety gone?
An FIR has been filed against Kerala's finance minister, KM Mani, by the state's Vigilance
and Anti-Corruption Bureau based on 'solid proof' of him having taken a bribe of Rs.1 crore
from the Bar Owners' Association against an assurance that they'd not be shut down. The
minister has since stated that it's a conspiracy to malign him and that he'll fight against it, tooth
and nail, both politically and legally.
One had heard of high morality among political leaders when, years ago, Lal Bahadur Sastri
had resigned as the railway minister by accepting moral responsibility for a train accident!
Everyone is aware that if a person continues to be in power, he'd be able to sway investigations
to his/her advantage and say, even if that didn't happen, the final outcome, especially, if it were
to give a 'clean chit' to the protagonist would be viewed with suspicion!
Sadly, no one seems to care or more likely, who cares anymore about morality or the truth?
They seem to be reserved for lesser mortals!
Tailpiece.
I'm restating my grandmother's statement, "It's kalyug, my dear!"
(a) Free travel.
The transport minister has pompously announced free travel for school students, up to class XII,
from 01 Feb 2015. This was in response to a request by his own party MLA to reduce the bus
fares in view of the lower prices of diesel in the market. About 1,30,000 students who've been
paying concessional fares, thus far, are gonna be the beneficiaries. Now, consider this too.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is debt ridden - surviving on frequent fund
transfusions by the government for its survival - and has not been able to pay its staff and
pensioners, their emoluments for the past so many months and the court has had to intervene
many a time to ensure the disbursal, albeit partially, to ensure their survival!
What does one make out of this absurd offer? Why don't we have ministers who really work
for the well being of the people and make laws appropriate to the need of the hour rather than
jump for populist measures. This is gonna have a cascading effect and there will be a clamour
for the reduction of fares on the private buses which, in turn, is gonna be the bone of contention
between the private bus owners and the student unions.
Consequential disruption of classes and damage to public property cannot be ruled out.
(b) They call it 'welcoming back home....'
A zealous BJP leader has gone about overseeing reconversion of Muslims into Hindus and
news has it that the 60 odd families of Agra have been promised Aadhaar cards and other
governmental schemes on priority. The latest news is that they've been left in the lurch by
both the Hindu and the Muslim communities and one can only imagine their plight! Thanks
to the media, their case has got publicity and I reckon that something positive will be done by
the government towards their rehabilitation.
Why are these fringe groups and madcaps allowed to get away with such idiotic stuff? It
cannot be forgotten that the people had overwhelmingly voted for Modi and his party as they'd
promised good governance. The fringe groups must definitely be put in their place.
(c) Where's propriety gone?
An FIR has been filed against Kerala's finance minister, KM Mani, by the state's Vigilance
and Anti-Corruption Bureau based on 'solid proof' of him having taken a bribe of Rs.1 crore
from the Bar Owners' Association against an assurance that they'd not be shut down. The
minister has since stated that it's a conspiracy to malign him and that he'll fight against it, tooth
and nail, both politically and legally.
One had heard of high morality among political leaders when, years ago, Lal Bahadur Sastri
had resigned as the railway minister by accepting moral responsibility for a train accident!
Everyone is aware that if a person continues to be in power, he'd be able to sway investigations
to his/her advantage and say, even if that didn't happen, the final outcome, especially, if it were
to give a 'clean chit' to the protagonist would be viewed with suspicion!
Sadly, no one seems to care or more likely, who cares anymore about morality or the truth?
They seem to be reserved for lesser mortals!
Tailpiece.
I'm restating my grandmother's statement, "It's kalyug, my dear!"
No comments:
Post a Comment