DMK MLAs get report cards8217;

CHENNAI, JUNE 21: With schoolboyish excitement, they peer into their report cards.' A few even snatch a sly look at their colleagues' m...

CHENNAI, JUNE 21: With schoolboyish excitement, they peer into their report cards.8217; A few even snatch a sly look at their colleagues8217; marks8217; and heave a sadistic sigh. 8220;Mine is not as dismal as his report is8221;, says one.

Typical as this may be of a classroom, the scene was enacted in Arivalayam, the DMK heaquarters. And the karai-veshti-clad red-and-black bordered dhoti men were none members of the Legislative Assembly MLAs. And the two-page sheets they were clutching nervously were report cards8217; indicating their performance in their respective constituencies over the last three years.

At the DMK MLAs8217; meeting today at the the newly-constructed Kalaignar Arangam8217;, their thalaivar8216; and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi handed them their glorious8217; performance reports.

For the first time in the party8217;s 50-year history and perhaps the first for any political party in the country, the DMK appointed independent, professional appraisers to assess the performance of 171 DMK MLAs in theState.

The evaluators, all retired Government servants8217; fanned out across the State, visited each of the 172 constituencies one MLA died recently which the party won in the 1996 Assembly elections and came back with a detailed and candid appraisal of each of the legislator8217;s performance.

8220;With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner and Assembly elections just two years away, we needed to know what the people think of our MLAs. So we decided to take up a professional exercise to assess their performance8221;, said one.

Minutes after Karunanidhi ambled into the venue, the pile of report cards8217; arrived. The two-page assessment reports in sealed covers were distributed to each one of the anxious MLAs. The report sheet, copies of which were obtained by this reporter, lists out the Government8217;s achievements in their respective constituencies, the locals8217; grievances, demands and schemes that could be implemented in the constituencies, and the MLAs8217; performance.

Story continues below this ad

The performance sheet of one of the MLAsfrom a western district said he was 8220;siding with the administration and working against the public interest8221;.

Another MLA, who walked out of the meeting with a grim expression, had this pull-no-punches8217; report on hand. 8220;You are not taking any effort to solve the problems of the people8221;, it said.

While such damning remarks might have nearly dashed his hopes of contesting again in the constituency, for the MLAs who have managed a pass mark8217;, as one put it, it8217;s quite an 8220;inspiration to perform better8221;.

MLA Rajkumar Manradiar had this to say: 8220;It is done in a professional manner and has to be welcomed8221;.

Story continues below this ad

But there were complaints from MLAs who had received bad reports8217;. 8220;Whoever did the survey visited only three places in each constituency; how can they conduct a fair assessment8221;, asks an MLA, who says the assessor has not visited most of his constituency.

There is a crumb of comfort, though. The reports have not spared the holier-than-thou Ministers either. 8220;The Chief Minister gave a fewMinisters 8220;a real bad shelling, possibly much worse than the Kargil shelling,8221; gleams a legislator.