BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
INDIA's first Social Development Report, published in 2006, the year in which the present Left Democratic Front (LDF) government took office in Kerala, estimated that 12.72 per cent of the state's population was poor. A survey ordered by the state government, the result of which is due to be released next month, may indicate a threefold increase in the number of the poor.
The anticipated growth of poverty is not the result of deterioration in the condition of the people under LDF rule. It is the result of a motivated attempt to boost the number of persons below the poverty line (BPL).
The state government wants to increase the number of BPL families so that more people can benefit from programmes meant for such families. It expects the step to yield a dividend to the ruling coalition at election time.
For long, the Centre's estimate of poverty has been at variance with that of the state. The estimates differ widely because the two governments use different yardsticks to measure poverty.
Early in this decade the Centre pegged the number of BPL families in the state at 1.2 million. The state government conducted its own survey with the help of members of the Kudumbasree self-help mission and came up with a list which contained an additional one million families.
In 2006 the Centre pruned the BPL list. It said only about 900,000 families in the state were eligible for inclusion in the list. But the state government said there were 2.5 million BPL families.
The Centre identifies BPL families using 13 socio-economic parameters such as operational landholding, housing, clothing, food security, sanitation, ownership of consumer durables like TV sets, literacy, means of livelihood, number of children, type of indebtedness etc. A good showing on one or two of these parameters will result in exclusion from BPL category.
The norms adopted by Kerala permit exclusion from the BPL list only if the families have members who are regular employees of public, private or co-operative institutions or have concrete houses with plinth area of 100 square feet or more or one acre of land or a four-wheel vehicle for private use or an NRI member.
Last year Central and state officials undertook a joint review of poverty norms. While the Central officials conceded that the Kerala formula was progressive and sensitive and took into account poverty in its totality, no agreed norms emerged.
While the state government's norms may be in order, its BPL list has attracted widespread criticism on two grounds. One is that many poor families have been excluded. The other is that many ineligible families have been included.
The Kudumbasree mission, which conducted the survey for the state government, is the local version of the network of women's self-help groups (SHGs) set up by all states in furtherance of a Central scheme. Many Kudumbasree units are under the control of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which heads the LDF. This has prompted the Congress, which heads the opposition United Democratic Front, to establish an SHG network of its own, named Janasree.
In view of the leanings of Kudumbasree units, there is room to suspect that political considerations played a role in the exclusion of eligible families and inclusion of ineligible ones.
In this year's budgets, both the Centre and the state announced plans to supply rice to BPL families with higher subsidies. Only those in the Centre's BPL list will get the benefits it has announced. The state will have to find its own resources to help those who are not in the Central list.
Eager to raise the number of families eligible for subsidised supplies, the state government ordered a fresh BPL survey. This time it requisitioned the services of teachers to undertake the field work. They began the massive exercise of gathering data from an estimated 8.6 million families in May.
While teachers have better credentials than Kudumbasree members to undertake the survey, the possibility of political bias still remains as many teachers too have strong political bias.
Local Self-government Minister Paloli Mohammed Kutty told the State Assembly recently that the new BPL list, which would exclude ineligible families and include eligible ones, would be published in October.
There is speculation that no fewer than 35 million families will be in the new list. That means 40 per cent of the population will be officially certified poor. –Gulf Today, Sharjah, September 14, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Kerala's high-speed rail corridor plan is on wrong track
BRP BHASKAR
EVEN as the Smart City project and the Vizhinjam deep-water port project, the major items of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's developmental agenda, are in the doldrums, it has come up with a new dream project: a high-speed rail corridor.
Well before the last Assembly elections, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), confident of an LDF win, had identified a few projects to be pursued when it comes to power.
Elamaram Kareem, whom party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan handpicked for the industry minister's post, was to see them though. They were mostly real estate projects. The rail corridor project was not among them.
Two weeks ago, while addressing the Thiruvananthapuram Management Association, Kareem unveiled the rail project, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat. He said the north-south corridor would make it possible to cover the 550 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasergode in five hours.
He indicated that the state government plans to register a company to take up the project and that the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation will be associated with it. This means the project will be under his department's control.
There is clearly a need to speed up north-south movement in the state. With this end in view, the national highway running along the coast is being widened. This, however, may not mean an end to road bottlenecks.
In these circumstances, some experts have suggested the laying of additional railway lines to facilitate movement of local trains to meet the needs of commuters spread across the entire length of the state.
The Centre is working on a plan to connect the country's big cities through high-speed rail corridors. Kerala does not have a strong claim for a place in that network. A state initiative to set up a rail corridor, therefore, makes sense.
However, the state government does not appear to be on the right track. Neither the Industries Department nor the KSIDC has the capacity to implement a project of this kind.
A state-promoted company with private participation in its share capital has been seen as the solution to Kerala's problem of paucity of resources since the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), set up by the government when K. Karunakaran was the chief minister, constructed the Kochi airport at Nedumbassery.
Originally the government had set up a registered society to raise funds for the airport project. The society appealed to Keralites working abroad, who will benefit directly from the project, and various institutions for loans and donations. The response was poor.
The state government then incorporated a company and invited the members of the public and various institutions to buy its shares. It was able to mobilise enough funds to build the airport.
Although the CIAL is often cited as a model of public-private participation, the fact is that it was not an unqualified success.
As against the target of Rs2 billion, the company could raise only Rs 40 million through sale of shares. In spite of the shortfall, the project could be completed because of the support extended by several central undertakings.
The limitations of the CIAL model have been brought out by the inability of the company formed to set up the Vizhinjam container port to take the project forward.
Kareem has not revealed how he proposes to raise money for the rail project.
According to some published reports, he has already held talks with some Gulf-based businessmen and received offers of support. The promoters of an Islamic bank, which is to be set up in the state and function in keeping with the Sharia injunction against interest, have reportedly agreed to give a large interest-free loan.
The Konkan Railway Corporation Limited appears to offer a better model than the CIAL for the rail corridor project. Set up when George Fernandes was the railway minister, it is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways.
Hopefully, E. Sreedharan, who heads the Delhi Metro Rail, should be able to convince the state government about the merits of this model. Sreedharan, a former member of the Railway Board, was the chief architect of the Konkan Railway. The state government has been consulting him on the Kochi metro project.
If the rail corridor project materialises the proposed expressway will become redundant. However, the state government is trying to pursue it under a new name.
It must abandon the idea of a north-south road corridor and draw up plans to make it possible for people living in the interior to access the rail corridor easily. – Gulf Today, September 6, 2009.
EVEN as the Smart City project and the Vizhinjam deep-water port project, the major items of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's developmental agenda, are in the doldrums, it has come up with a new dream project: a high-speed rail corridor.
Well before the last Assembly elections, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), confident of an LDF win, had identified a few projects to be pursued when it comes to power.
Elamaram Kareem, whom party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan handpicked for the industry minister's post, was to see them though. They were mostly real estate projects. The rail corridor project was not among them.
Two weeks ago, while addressing the Thiruvananthapuram Management Association, Kareem unveiled the rail project, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat. He said the north-south corridor would make it possible to cover the 550 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasergode in five hours.
He indicated that the state government plans to register a company to take up the project and that the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation will be associated with it. This means the project will be under his department's control.
There is clearly a need to speed up north-south movement in the state. With this end in view, the national highway running along the coast is being widened. This, however, may not mean an end to road bottlenecks.
In these circumstances, some experts have suggested the laying of additional railway lines to facilitate movement of local trains to meet the needs of commuters spread across the entire length of the state.
The Centre is working on a plan to connect the country's big cities through high-speed rail corridors. Kerala does not have a strong claim for a place in that network. A state initiative to set up a rail corridor, therefore, makes sense.
However, the state government does not appear to be on the right track. Neither the Industries Department nor the KSIDC has the capacity to implement a project of this kind.
A state-promoted company with private participation in its share capital has been seen as the solution to Kerala's problem of paucity of resources since the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), set up by the government when K. Karunakaran was the chief minister, constructed the Kochi airport at Nedumbassery.
Originally the government had set up a registered society to raise funds for the airport project. The society appealed to Keralites working abroad, who will benefit directly from the project, and various institutions for loans and donations. The response was poor.
The state government then incorporated a company and invited the members of the public and various institutions to buy its shares. It was able to mobilise enough funds to build the airport.
Although the CIAL is often cited as a model of public-private participation, the fact is that it was not an unqualified success.
As against the target of Rs2 billion, the company could raise only Rs 40 million through sale of shares. In spite of the shortfall, the project could be completed because of the support extended by several central undertakings.
The limitations of the CIAL model have been brought out by the inability of the company formed to set up the Vizhinjam container port to take the project forward.
Kareem has not revealed how he proposes to raise money for the rail project.
According to some published reports, he has already held talks with some Gulf-based businessmen and received offers of support. The promoters of an Islamic bank, which is to be set up in the state and function in keeping with the Sharia injunction against interest, have reportedly agreed to give a large interest-free loan.
The Konkan Railway Corporation Limited appears to offer a better model than the CIAL for the rail corridor project. Set up when George Fernandes was the railway minister, it is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways.
Hopefully, E. Sreedharan, who heads the Delhi Metro Rail, should be able to convince the state government about the merits of this model. Sreedharan, a former member of the Railway Board, was the chief architect of the Konkan Railway. The state government has been consulting him on the Kochi metro project.
If the rail corridor project materialises the proposed expressway will become redundant. However, the state government is trying to pursue it under a new name.
It must abandon the idea of a north-south road corridor and draw up plans to make it possible for people living in the interior to access the rail corridor easily. – Gulf Today, September 6, 2009.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Murder exposes convergence of crime, business and politics
BRP BHASKAR
WHILE refusing bail to a notorious goon involved in eight cases last week, Kerala high court judge KT Sankaran observed that if the government does not act decisively against such criminal elements, the rule of law will collapse and anarchy prevail.
The judge's warning came as the media, covering the murder of a young businessman, was treating the public to sensational accounts of links between politicians and criminals, and spokesmen of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the opposition were claiming the boot was on the other leg.
Paul M. George, 32, of the Rs200-billion George M. Muthoot group, was stabbed to death shortly after midnight on Aug.21 while driving from one of his resorts to another.
Founded by a small-time financier 122 years ago, the Muthoot group has now branched out into other areas, including hospitality, but money-lending remains its core activity. Paul was reportedly involved in a drug case in Delhi a few years ago.
Paul was driving a car belonging to one of his friends. He had instructed his driver to collect the key of the resort and follow.
The driver found him and one of his companions, Manu, lying on the road, bleeding. He took them to the hospital, where Paul was declared dead.
A team headed by Vinson M. Paul, Inspector General of Police, Ernakulam Range, began investigations immediately. Three days later, the IGP told the media the murder mystery had been solved. It was a case of road rage, not premeditated murder, he said.
According to the IGP's story, Paul George, who was drunk, knocked down a motor cyclist and drove off without stopping. Members of a criminal gang witnessed the accident. Some of its members intercepted the car after a chase and one of them, Kari Satheesan, who too was drunk, stabbed Paul with an S-shaped knife.
Police arranged for Satheesan to confess to the killing before media persons but did not allow him to take questions.
The media shot holes in the IGP's theory and showed that the police was still clueless on some crucial aspects of the case including the disappearance of three of Paul's companions on the fateful journey.
Two of them have been identified as Omprakash and Puthenpalam Rajesh, both goons of Thiruvananthapuram, against whom arrest warrants are pending. The third person involved in the vanishing trick was a television actress, whose identity has not been revealed.
Apparently after the stabbing, the trio drove away in the car, leaving the injured Paul and Manu bleeding on the road. The vehicle broke down at Chavara and was abandoned. How they got away from there is unclear.
By early morning the car was in police custody. However, men posing as automobile mechanics were able to remove the trio's bags from it.
On Sunday, amid speculation that Omprakash and Rajesh had escaped to Dubai, the police announced a reward of Rs100,000 for information about their whereabouts.
Media reports suggested that the goons escaped with the help of political patrons and police officials. They also dropped hints about the goons' proximity to a minister's son.
Embarrassed by the reports, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan asked the media to stop weaving tales and leave the investigation to the police. Two days later, he went one step further and said his son was not connected with the case in any way.
CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan asked the media to stop making insinuations. He asked why they were not talking about Paul's antecedents and his association with goons.
Drawing a saffron herring across the trail, he said the S-shaped knife used by the killer was a weapon used by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members.
The RSS responded by producing an old membership card of the Democratic Youth Federation of India in Satheesan's name and another of the Karshaka Thozhilali Union (farm labourers' body) in his mother Vilasini's name. Both organisations are CPI-M affiliates.
Thiruvananthapuram district CPI-M secretary Kadakampalli Surendran alleged that Omprakash was close to K. Sudhakaran, Congress MP from Kannur. Sudhakaran retorted that Omprakash and the home minister's son were like twins.
High media interest in a case of this kind is natural. As happens so often these days, its coverage tended to be sensationalistic.
Pinarayi Vijayan's intervention was a calculated attempt for a trade-off between the police's weaknesses and the party's with the media's.
Will Paul George's killers be brought to justice? The answer to this question must wait. But one thing can be said with certainty. His murder has exposed the convergence of crime, business and politics in the state. –Gulf Today, Sharjah, August 30, 2009.
WHILE refusing bail to a notorious goon involved in eight cases last week, Kerala high court judge KT Sankaran observed that if the government does not act decisively against such criminal elements, the rule of law will collapse and anarchy prevail.
The judge's warning came as the media, covering the murder of a young businessman, was treating the public to sensational accounts of links between politicians and criminals, and spokesmen of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the opposition were claiming the boot was on the other leg.
Paul M. George, 32, of the Rs200-billion George M. Muthoot group, was stabbed to death shortly after midnight on Aug.21 while driving from one of his resorts to another.
Founded by a small-time financier 122 years ago, the Muthoot group has now branched out into other areas, including hospitality, but money-lending remains its core activity. Paul was reportedly involved in a drug case in Delhi a few years ago.
Paul was driving a car belonging to one of his friends. He had instructed his driver to collect the key of the resort and follow.
The driver found him and one of his companions, Manu, lying on the road, bleeding. He took them to the hospital, where Paul was declared dead.
A team headed by Vinson M. Paul, Inspector General of Police, Ernakulam Range, began investigations immediately. Three days later, the IGP told the media the murder mystery had been solved. It was a case of road rage, not premeditated murder, he said.
According to the IGP's story, Paul George, who was drunk, knocked down a motor cyclist and drove off without stopping. Members of a criminal gang witnessed the accident. Some of its members intercepted the car after a chase and one of them, Kari Satheesan, who too was drunk, stabbed Paul with an S-shaped knife.
Police arranged for Satheesan to confess to the killing before media persons but did not allow him to take questions.
The media shot holes in the IGP's theory and showed that the police was still clueless on some crucial aspects of the case including the disappearance of three of Paul's companions on the fateful journey.
Two of them have been identified as Omprakash and Puthenpalam Rajesh, both goons of Thiruvananthapuram, against whom arrest warrants are pending. The third person involved in the vanishing trick was a television actress, whose identity has not been revealed.
Apparently after the stabbing, the trio drove away in the car, leaving the injured Paul and Manu bleeding on the road. The vehicle broke down at Chavara and was abandoned. How they got away from there is unclear.
By early morning the car was in police custody. However, men posing as automobile mechanics were able to remove the trio's bags from it.
On Sunday, amid speculation that Omprakash and Rajesh had escaped to Dubai, the police announced a reward of Rs100,000 for information about their whereabouts.
Media reports suggested that the goons escaped with the help of political patrons and police officials. They also dropped hints about the goons' proximity to a minister's son.
Embarrassed by the reports, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan asked the media to stop weaving tales and leave the investigation to the police. Two days later, he went one step further and said his son was not connected with the case in any way.
CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan asked the media to stop making insinuations. He asked why they were not talking about Paul's antecedents and his association with goons.
Drawing a saffron herring across the trail, he said the S-shaped knife used by the killer was a weapon used by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members.
The RSS responded by producing an old membership card of the Democratic Youth Federation of India in Satheesan's name and another of the Karshaka Thozhilali Union (farm labourers' body) in his mother Vilasini's name. Both organisations are CPI-M affiliates.
Thiruvananthapuram district CPI-M secretary Kadakampalli Surendran alleged that Omprakash was close to K. Sudhakaran, Congress MP from Kannur. Sudhakaran retorted that Omprakash and the home minister's son were like twins.
High media interest in a case of this kind is natural. As happens so often these days, its coverage tended to be sensationalistic.
Pinarayi Vijayan's intervention was a calculated attempt for a trade-off between the police's weaknesses and the party's with the media's.
Will Paul George's killers be brought to justice? The answer to this question must wait. But one thing can be said with certainty. His murder has exposed the convergence of crime, business and politics in the state. –Gulf Today, Sharjah, August 30, 2009.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Parties evade basic issue in Asean pact debate
BRP BHASKAR
A furious debate is raging in Kerala over the merits and demerits of the free trade agreement which India signed with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) this month. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), has mounted a campaign against the agreement, saying it will ruin the state's agricultural sector.
Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan has accused the prime minister of not honouring the promise to consult the state government before signing it.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, who has taken upon himself the task of defending the agreement, signed by the Congress-led central government, claims it contains enough provisions to safeguard the interests of the state's farmers.
Asean, the 10-nation group which accounts for about 10 per cent of world commerce, is already India's fourth largest trading partner. Last year India-Asean bilateral trade stood at US$40 billion. It is expected to go up to $50 billion by next year. The agreement, limited to trade in goods, covers 12,169 items.
They include coconut oil, pepper, coffee, tea and rubber, which are among Kerala's major commercial crops. Since Asean countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam produce these items or substitutes at lower costs than Kerala, free import will hurt the state's farmers by bringing down prices. After China signed a free trade agreement with Asean, it was imperative for India to follow suit.
To protect the interests of the state's farmers and fishermen, the government, through negotiations spread over six years, persuaded Asean to place some items on a "negative" list. Duties on these items are to be reduced in stages over the next 10 years.
To begin with, 303 items have been placed in the negative list, which is subject to annual review. They include copra, coconut, cashew, cardamom, ginger, rubber, rice, tapioca, sardine, shrimp, crab, milk and milk products, banana and pineapple.
The Asean pact has emerged as a major bone of contention between the CPI-M and the Congress, the chief rivals in the struggle for power in the state. As usual, the two parties are trying to score debating points, hoping to convert them into votes. The CPI-M, which is yet to recover from the crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, sees the Asean pact as an ideal substitute for the issue of globalisation, which no longer yields electoral dividends.
The Kerala Karshaka Sangham, a farmers' organisation controlled by the CPI-M, has called for boycott of Asean products.
Oommen Chandy has charged that in opposing the Asean agreement the CPI-M is serving the interests of China. He claims that the "negative" list is a unique feature of Asean's pact with India and that this was introduced to protect Kerala's interests.
The latter's claim cannot be taken at face value as the list contains items like apple and orange, which have no relevance to the state. He points out that the agreement gives Kerala 10 years' time to make its farms products competitive.
The Centre has offered help to rebuild the agricultural sector in this period. Rubber is the only item in the negative list in which Kerala has higher productivity than the Asean countries. Experts feel the state cannot improve productivity and profitability of other crops to a point where it can withstand competition from the Asean countries within a decade.
They also doubt its ability to benefit from the central schemes designed to help the farmers. They point out that, although the Centre has raised the support price of copra to a record level, coconut growers are suffering as the state government failed to undertake large-scale procurement.
With the CPI-M and the Congress approaching the issue from the standpoint of possible political gains, a fundamental question that begs for has not come up in the debate: why is it that agriculture in the state has been continually declining? The short answer to the question is that over the years rising wages and falling productivity made farming uneconomic.
Successive governments, headed by the leaders of the two fronts, were unable to reverse the trend. The state's growers account for 90 per cent of the country's rubber output. The Rubber Board's promotional effort helped them to achieve a high level of productivity. Boards set up for the promotion of other crops like coconut and spices have not been able to match its performance.
A furious debate is raging in Kerala over the merits and demerits of the free trade agreement which India signed with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) this month. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), has mounted a campaign against the agreement, saying it will ruin the state's agricultural sector.
Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan has accused the prime minister of not honouring the promise to consult the state government before signing it.
Former chief minister Oommen Chandy, who has taken upon himself the task of defending the agreement, signed by the Congress-led central government, claims it contains enough provisions to safeguard the interests of the state's farmers.
Asean, the 10-nation group which accounts for about 10 per cent of world commerce, is already India's fourth largest trading partner. Last year India-Asean bilateral trade stood at US$40 billion. It is expected to go up to $50 billion by next year. The agreement, limited to trade in goods, covers 12,169 items.
They include coconut oil, pepper, coffee, tea and rubber, which are among Kerala's major commercial crops. Since Asean countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam produce these items or substitutes at lower costs than Kerala, free import will hurt the state's farmers by bringing down prices. After China signed a free trade agreement with Asean, it was imperative for India to follow suit.
To protect the interests of the state's farmers and fishermen, the government, through negotiations spread over six years, persuaded Asean to place some items on a "negative" list. Duties on these items are to be reduced in stages over the next 10 years.
To begin with, 303 items have been placed in the negative list, which is subject to annual review. They include copra, coconut, cashew, cardamom, ginger, rubber, rice, tapioca, sardine, shrimp, crab, milk and milk products, banana and pineapple.
The Asean pact has emerged as a major bone of contention between the CPI-M and the Congress, the chief rivals in the struggle for power in the state. As usual, the two parties are trying to score debating points, hoping to convert them into votes. The CPI-M, which is yet to recover from the crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, sees the Asean pact as an ideal substitute for the issue of globalisation, which no longer yields electoral dividends.
The Kerala Karshaka Sangham, a farmers' organisation controlled by the CPI-M, has called for boycott of Asean products.
Oommen Chandy has charged that in opposing the Asean agreement the CPI-M is serving the interests of China. He claims that the "negative" list is a unique feature of Asean's pact with India and that this was introduced to protect Kerala's interests.
The latter's claim cannot be taken at face value as the list contains items like apple and orange, which have no relevance to the state. He points out that the agreement gives Kerala 10 years' time to make its farms products competitive.
The Centre has offered help to rebuild the agricultural sector in this period. Rubber is the only item in the negative list in which Kerala has higher productivity than the Asean countries. Experts feel the state cannot improve productivity and profitability of other crops to a point where it can withstand competition from the Asean countries within a decade.
They also doubt its ability to benefit from the central schemes designed to help the farmers. They point out that, although the Centre has raised the support price of copra to a record level, coconut growers are suffering as the state government failed to undertake large-scale procurement.
With the CPI-M and the Congress approaching the issue from the standpoint of possible political gains, a fundamental question that begs for has not come up in the debate: why is it that agriculture in the state has been continually declining? The short answer to the question is that over the years rising wages and falling productivity made farming uneconomic.
Successive governments, headed by the leaders of the two fronts, were unable to reverse the trend. The state's growers account for 90 per cent of the country's rubber output. The Rubber Board's promotional effort helped them to achieve a high level of productivity. Boards set up for the promotion of other crops like coconut and spices have not been able to match its performance.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Kerala ruling front's attempt to refurbish image
Kerala ruling front's attempt to refurbish image
BRP BHASKAR
The induction of three ministers in Kerala's Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, scheduled on Monday, is part of a face-lifting exercise aimed at recovering ground lost in the three years it has been in office.
The LDF came to power amid high hopes in 2006. It's performance so far has been poor. Even the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which heads the coalition, has been forced to acknowledge that the government has not been able to rise to the expectations of the people. The LDF's performance in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year was disastrous. Its share of seats came down from 19 to four.
Since local bodies elections are due next year, the CPI-M has decided to act quickly to refurbish the government's image. Of the three ministers, two are experienced politicians while one is a green horse.
PJ Joseph, leader of the Kerala Congress faction known by his name, was in the LDF government when it took office but had to resign in the wake of an allegation of sexual harassment. He returns to the ministry after being cleared by a court. When Joseph stepped down in the wake of the charge, the party nominated TU Kuruvila as its representative in the cabinet. He had to bow following allegations of involvement in a land scam.
Mons Joseph was then inducted into the government with a view to keeping the seat warm for PJ Joseph. A Tamil Nadu court, which heard the case against PJ Joseph, acquitted him.
Since the complainant did not appeal against the verdict, the way was clear for his return to the government.
The CPI-M decided to take the opportunity to bring the Congress (Socialist) leader Ramachandran Kadannappalli and Janata Dal (Gowda) member Jose Thettayil also into the government.
By virtue of his seniority as a politician, Ramachandran Kadannappalli was entitled to become minister when the LDF took office. He missed the opportunity as the CPI-M decided not to give representation to one-man parties. The decision was part of a calculated move to limit the role of small constituents who were weilding undue influence in the front.
The CPI-M's decision to accommodate him in the government now suggests that it realises that it needs the support of the small parties, too, to overcome the situation resulting from the rout in the Lok Sabha elections. Jose Thettayil earned the minister's post by remaining steadfast in his support for the LDF when MP Veerendrakumar, state president of Janata Dal (Secular) locked horns with CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
After the CPI-M took away his Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat for a candidate of its own, Veerendrakumar and his supporters worked against LDF candidates. The Janata Dal's national leadership disowned them.
They are now expected to join the Congress-led United Democratic Front. For a long time, there was very little change in the composition and relative strength of the LDF and the United Democratic Front (UDF), the main contenders for power at the state level who have been favoured by the electorate by turns in Assembly elections.
To the extent that the Veerendrakumar faction is the larger of the two formations resulting from the breakup of the Janata Dal (S), the LDF appears to be a net loser. This may well be what prompted the CPI-M to be show greater solicitude to the small partners. The ministerial changes are unlikely to lead to any improvement in the performance of the LDF government since the causes of its poor record remain unaddressed.
Although things have been quiet in the CPI-M, since Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan's removal from the politburo, no one believes that the bane of sectarianism is over. As a rule, the LDF has had an edge over the UDF in local bodies elections.
However, the reverses the CPI-M suffered in the recent panchayat (local bodies) byelections suggest that there has been erosion in its support at the grassroots, which is attributable, at least partly, to the disenchantment in the rank and file resulting from the sectarianism.
Against this background, the LDF proposal to provide 50% reservation to women in the panchayat elections can be seen as a masterstroke designed to boost its image among the fair sex.
The CPI-M was the major beneficiary of the statutory 33% reservation for women in the local bodies. By putting up more women candidates, it may be able to improve its overall position by enlarging its support base among women. – Gulf Today, Sharjah, August 17, 2009.
BRP BHASKAR
The induction of three ministers in Kerala's Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, scheduled on Monday, is part of a face-lifting exercise aimed at recovering ground lost in the three years it has been in office.
The LDF came to power amid high hopes in 2006. It's performance so far has been poor. Even the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which heads the coalition, has been forced to acknowledge that the government has not been able to rise to the expectations of the people. The LDF's performance in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year was disastrous. Its share of seats came down from 19 to four.
Since local bodies elections are due next year, the CPI-M has decided to act quickly to refurbish the government's image. Of the three ministers, two are experienced politicians while one is a green horse.
PJ Joseph, leader of the Kerala Congress faction known by his name, was in the LDF government when it took office but had to resign in the wake of an allegation of sexual harassment. He returns to the ministry after being cleared by a court. When Joseph stepped down in the wake of the charge, the party nominated TU Kuruvila as its representative in the cabinet. He had to bow following allegations of involvement in a land scam.
Mons Joseph was then inducted into the government with a view to keeping the seat warm for PJ Joseph. A Tamil Nadu court, which heard the case against PJ Joseph, acquitted him.
Since the complainant did not appeal against the verdict, the way was clear for his return to the government.
The CPI-M decided to take the opportunity to bring the Congress (Socialist) leader Ramachandran Kadannappalli and Janata Dal (Gowda) member Jose Thettayil also into the government.
By virtue of his seniority as a politician, Ramachandran Kadannappalli was entitled to become minister when the LDF took office. He missed the opportunity as the CPI-M decided not to give representation to one-man parties. The decision was part of a calculated move to limit the role of small constituents who were weilding undue influence in the front.
The CPI-M's decision to accommodate him in the government now suggests that it realises that it needs the support of the small parties, too, to overcome the situation resulting from the rout in the Lok Sabha elections. Jose Thettayil earned the minister's post by remaining steadfast in his support for the LDF when MP Veerendrakumar, state president of Janata Dal (Secular) locked horns with CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
After the CPI-M took away his Kozhikode Lok Sabha seat for a candidate of its own, Veerendrakumar and his supporters worked against LDF candidates. The Janata Dal's national leadership disowned them.
They are now expected to join the Congress-led United Democratic Front. For a long time, there was very little change in the composition and relative strength of the LDF and the United Democratic Front (UDF), the main contenders for power at the state level who have been favoured by the electorate by turns in Assembly elections.
To the extent that the Veerendrakumar faction is the larger of the two formations resulting from the breakup of the Janata Dal (S), the LDF appears to be a net loser. This may well be what prompted the CPI-M to be show greater solicitude to the small partners. The ministerial changes are unlikely to lead to any improvement in the performance of the LDF government since the causes of its poor record remain unaddressed.
Although things have been quiet in the CPI-M, since Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan's removal from the politburo, no one believes that the bane of sectarianism is over. As a rule, the LDF has had an edge over the UDF in local bodies elections.
However, the reverses the CPI-M suffered in the recent panchayat (local bodies) byelections suggest that there has been erosion in its support at the grassroots, which is attributable, at least partly, to the disenchantment in the rank and file resulting from the sectarianism.
Against this background, the LDF proposal to provide 50% reservation to women in the panchayat elections can be seen as a masterstroke designed to boost its image among the fair sex.
The CPI-M was the major beneficiary of the statutory 33% reservation for women in the local bodies. By putting up more women candidates, it may be able to improve its overall position by enlarging its support base among women. – Gulf Today, Sharjah, August 17, 2009.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Remembering Independence Day 1947
In a speech which is now a part of political lore, Jawaharlal Nehru said on the night of August 14-15, 1947 that India, which had made a tryst with destiny long years ago, was redeeming its pledge, “not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially”.
He added, “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”
As the clock struck 12, loud cheers broke out in the august hall. The state-owned All India Radio carried the proceedings of the house live to the far corners of the country. Knots of people gathered around wireless sets in the towns and heard the inspiring words of the man who was to lead them for the next 17 years.
“The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour?” he asked, and answered the question himself. “To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.”
Not many peasants and workers could have heard the promise of freedom and opportunity that the Prime Minister-designate held out to them as the sun of freedom rose at midnight. Few among them were within hearing distance of a radio, which was a rare, expensive commodity in those days.
As India woke up to life and freedom, most Indians were probably asleep in their modest homes or on footpaths, as on other nights. The next day’s newspapers focused their attention sharply on the grand ceremonies in New Delhi and lesser ones under official auspices elsewhere in the country. It is not possible to reconstruct from their accounts how the ordinary people, especially those living in far-flung villages, greeted freedom at midnight.
The best picture we have is a fictional account of the night’s events in a Kerala village, provided by eminent Malayalam writer Takazhi Sivasankara Pillai in his mammoth novel “Kayar”:
All lights were out. All homes fell asleep. The Party should have celebrated this day. The last Britisher boards the steamer to go home at midnight tonight. Isn’t that something? Isn’t the working class getting any rights tonight?
Surendran walked. He felt a heaviness inside. All working class homes were asleep. Did they not know that India was becoming free tonight?
He walked through the lanes. People were awake in some houses here and there. Maybe they habitually sleep late. Decorations were going on in two or three houses. Festoons were being put up in the village office. Surendran thought of going up to the police station. In the darkness he saw a figure moving in the oppose direction. It was Manikantan.
Surendran recognized Manikantan. And Manikantan recognized Surendran.
Manikantan said a little excitedly: ‘Large-scale decorations are going on at the police station’.
That was big news. Surendran said: ‘At 12 the Tricolour will go up there.’
‘Yes, yes, the cops will salute the flag at 12.’
Manikantan moved away, walking hurriedly as though there was some urgent work to do. And Surendran went to see the police station. As the clock ticked towards freedom, two men were running around in that village. They were full of enthusiasm. The freedom which generations had dreamed of was becoming a reality. Could those who lived a hundred years ago have known that after sunset on the night of August 14, 1947, at 12 o’ clock sharp, India’s flag will be fluttering in the sky? They might have inquisitively wondered when that day would come. This generation had impatiently waited for this day. It was we who had the good fortune to decide that moment.
Time was not moving. That was how Manikantan felt. There was still time left. Fat, unmoving moments.
From where should one see the National Flag going up? The biggest preparations were at the police station. It would be fun to watch uniformed, gun-wielding policemen salute the flag. Might as well see how they salute the flag. Once they had ripped a Tricolour with bullets. It was from that flag that the present one had come.
Yes, that was the place. Some people had already gathered there. Shouldn’t the whole village be there -- men, women and children? Why weren’t they all there?
The village where Takazhi’s story is set is one that has felt the impact of political activity. Manikantan and Surendran who wander rather aimlessly through the village streets that night are young men who are part of two major political streams. Few villages in the country had probably felt the impact of politics to the same degree.
He added, “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.”
As the clock struck 12, loud cheers broke out in the august hall. The state-owned All India Radio carried the proceedings of the house live to the far corners of the country. Knots of people gathered around wireless sets in the towns and heard the inspiring words of the man who was to lead them for the next 17 years.
“The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour?” he asked, and answered the question himself. “To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.”
Not many peasants and workers could have heard the promise of freedom and opportunity that the Prime Minister-designate held out to them as the sun of freedom rose at midnight. Few among them were within hearing distance of a radio, which was a rare, expensive commodity in those days.
As India woke up to life and freedom, most Indians were probably asleep in their modest homes or on footpaths, as on other nights. The next day’s newspapers focused their attention sharply on the grand ceremonies in New Delhi and lesser ones under official auspices elsewhere in the country. It is not possible to reconstruct from their accounts how the ordinary people, especially those living in far-flung villages, greeted freedom at midnight.
The best picture we have is a fictional account of the night’s events in a Kerala village, provided by eminent Malayalam writer Takazhi Sivasankara Pillai in his mammoth novel “Kayar”:
All lights were out. All homes fell asleep. The Party should have celebrated this day. The last Britisher boards the steamer to go home at midnight tonight. Isn’t that something? Isn’t the working class getting any rights tonight?
Surendran walked. He felt a heaviness inside. All working class homes were asleep. Did they not know that India was becoming free tonight?
He walked through the lanes. People were awake in some houses here and there. Maybe they habitually sleep late. Decorations were going on in two or three houses. Festoons were being put up in the village office. Surendran thought of going up to the police station. In the darkness he saw a figure moving in the oppose direction. It was Manikantan.
Surendran recognized Manikantan. And Manikantan recognized Surendran.
Manikantan said a little excitedly: ‘Large-scale decorations are going on at the police station’.
That was big news. Surendran said: ‘At 12 the Tricolour will go up there.’
‘Yes, yes, the cops will salute the flag at 12.’
Manikantan moved away, walking hurriedly as though there was some urgent work to do. And Surendran went to see the police station. As the clock ticked towards freedom, two men were running around in that village. They were full of enthusiasm. The freedom which generations had dreamed of was becoming a reality. Could those who lived a hundred years ago have known that after sunset on the night of August 14, 1947, at 12 o’ clock sharp, India’s flag will be fluttering in the sky? They might have inquisitively wondered when that day would come. This generation had impatiently waited for this day. It was we who had the good fortune to decide that moment.
Time was not moving. That was how Manikantan felt. There was still time left. Fat, unmoving moments.
From where should one see the National Flag going up? The biggest preparations were at the police station. It would be fun to watch uniformed, gun-wielding policemen salute the flag. Might as well see how they salute the flag. Once they had ripped a Tricolour with bullets. It was from that flag that the present one had come.
Yes, that was the place. Some people had already gathered there. Shouldn’t the whole village be there -- men, women and children? Why weren’t they all there?
The village where Takazhi’s story is set is one that has felt the impact of political activity. Manikantan and Surendran who wander rather aimlessly through the village streets that night are young men who are part of two major political streams. Few villages in the country had probably felt the impact of politics to the same degree.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Muraleedharan looking for a way out of wilderness
BRP BHASKAR
Gulf Today
From what appeared to be a win-win situation to suspension in a state of limbo, former state minister and Kerala Pradesh Congress (KPCC) president, K. Muraleedharan has travelled a long way in a short time. Son of former chief minister K.Karunakaran, he had risen quickly in the party after his induction as chief of the Seva Dal.
During the prolonged faction fight with Karunakaran, AK Antony helped him on more than one occasion to move up, presumably as a peace gesture to his rival. It was with Antony's support that he first became a member of parliament and later state party president.
As Antony moved to New Delhi and emerged as a confidante of Sonia Gandhi, Karunakaran felt that he was not receiving the attention due to him as a Congressman of long standing, who had stood by Indira Gandhi when the Antony faction had broken away.
Before the Lok Sabha elections of 2004, Muraleedharan became minister for power, striking a deal with Oommen Chandy, who had succeeded Antony as chief minister. Karunakaran was unhappy as the deal was negotiated behind his back. In a bid to appease Karunakaran, the Congress nominated him and his daughter, Padmaja Venugopal, as candidates for the Lok Sabha.
Muraleedharan, who had to enter the Assembly to secure his position as minister, contested for that house. All three lost.
The electorate, taking a dim view of the developments in the Congress, resorted to wholesale slaughter of the party's candidates. The old war horse that he is, Karunakaran was not ready to take the defeat lying down.
With an eye to the Assembly elections of 2006, he walked out of the Congress with Muraleedharan and floated a party, styled as the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K).
They hoped to find a place in the Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which was widely tipped to win. CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was ready to welcome the DIC-K into the fold, but VS Achuthanandan, who has been pursuing a corruption charge against Karunakaran, set his face against any truck with his outfit.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) too did not want the DIC-K in the front. Left in the lurch, the DIC-K decided to go it alone. It's presence made no difference to the prospects of the two fronts, which constitute the political mainstream.
The LDF romped home with 100 seats in the 140-member Assembly. The DIC-K won just one seat.
Karunakaran and Muraleedharan, looking for a refuge, zeroed in on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), formed by Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar who had walked out of the Congress, protesting against Sonia Gandhi's projection as prime ministerial candidate. As a party of ex-Congressmen, the NCP appeared to be a good choice.
Pawar was willing to make Muraleedharan president of the party's Kerala unit. The NCP held out the promise of new avenues before the father-son duo. It was a partner of the Congress in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which was in power at the Centre. It was also a partner of the CPI-M in the Left Democratic Front, which was in power in the state.
The NCP had two ministers at the Centre. It had no minister in the state because the CPI-M was unwilling to offer representation to parties with lone members. With the DIC-K's merger, the NCP will have two members in the Assembly and may be able to claim a cabinet post. But things did not work out that way.
The LDF said the post-merger NCP was a new outfit and it was not part of the front. The Congress was not prepared to extend its alliance with the NCP beyond Maharashtra. The duo started operating separately once again.
Karunakaran went back to the Congress after securing promise of a fair deal to his supporters. Muraleedharan stayed back in the NCP. The rout of all five candidates the NCP put up in this year's Lok Sabha elections convinced Muraleedharan that he was on a blind alley.
Last month, he invited expulsion from the NCP by publicly expressing his desire to return to the Congress. His statement set alarm bells ringing in the Congress.
Leaders of the dormant factions came together at last week's state party executive meeting to block Muraleedharan's entry. They are a formidable combination but he is hoping Antony will help him out of the wilderness.
Gulf Today
From what appeared to be a win-win situation to suspension in a state of limbo, former state minister and Kerala Pradesh Congress (KPCC) president, K. Muraleedharan has travelled a long way in a short time. Son of former chief minister K.Karunakaran, he had risen quickly in the party after his induction as chief of the Seva Dal.
During the prolonged faction fight with Karunakaran, AK Antony helped him on more than one occasion to move up, presumably as a peace gesture to his rival. It was with Antony's support that he first became a member of parliament and later state party president.
As Antony moved to New Delhi and emerged as a confidante of Sonia Gandhi, Karunakaran felt that he was not receiving the attention due to him as a Congressman of long standing, who had stood by Indira Gandhi when the Antony faction had broken away.
Before the Lok Sabha elections of 2004, Muraleedharan became minister for power, striking a deal with Oommen Chandy, who had succeeded Antony as chief minister. Karunakaran was unhappy as the deal was negotiated behind his back. In a bid to appease Karunakaran, the Congress nominated him and his daughter, Padmaja Venugopal, as candidates for the Lok Sabha.
Muraleedharan, who had to enter the Assembly to secure his position as minister, contested for that house. All three lost.
The electorate, taking a dim view of the developments in the Congress, resorted to wholesale slaughter of the party's candidates. The old war horse that he is, Karunakaran was not ready to take the defeat lying down.
With an eye to the Assembly elections of 2006, he walked out of the Congress with Muraleedharan and floated a party, styled as the Democratic Indira Congress-Karunakaran (DIC-K).
They hoped to find a place in the Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which was widely tipped to win. CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was ready to welcome the DIC-K into the fold, but VS Achuthanandan, who has been pursuing a corruption charge against Karunakaran, set his face against any truck with his outfit.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) too did not want the DIC-K in the front. Left in the lurch, the DIC-K decided to go it alone. It's presence made no difference to the prospects of the two fronts, which constitute the political mainstream.
The LDF romped home with 100 seats in the 140-member Assembly. The DIC-K won just one seat.
Karunakaran and Muraleedharan, looking for a refuge, zeroed in on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), formed by Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar who had walked out of the Congress, protesting against Sonia Gandhi's projection as prime ministerial candidate. As a party of ex-Congressmen, the NCP appeared to be a good choice.
Pawar was willing to make Muraleedharan president of the party's Kerala unit. The NCP held out the promise of new avenues before the father-son duo. It was a partner of the Congress in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which was in power at the Centre. It was also a partner of the CPI-M in the Left Democratic Front, which was in power in the state.
The NCP had two ministers at the Centre. It had no minister in the state because the CPI-M was unwilling to offer representation to parties with lone members. With the DIC-K's merger, the NCP will have two members in the Assembly and may be able to claim a cabinet post. But things did not work out that way.
The LDF said the post-merger NCP was a new outfit and it was not part of the front. The Congress was not prepared to extend its alliance with the NCP beyond Maharashtra. The duo started operating separately once again.
Karunakaran went back to the Congress after securing promise of a fair deal to his supporters. Muraleedharan stayed back in the NCP. The rout of all five candidates the NCP put up in this year's Lok Sabha elections convinced Muraleedharan that he was on a blind alley.
Last month, he invited expulsion from the NCP by publicly expressing his desire to return to the Congress. His statement set alarm bells ringing in the Congress.
Leaders of the dormant factions came together at last week's state party executive meeting to block Muraleedharan's entry. They are a formidable combination but he is hoping Antony will help him out of the wilderness.
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