Few takers for transfer theory

SURAT, Sept 21: Every natural disaster brings with it one certain fallout: Not disease, not dole-outs, but the demand for heads to roll. ...

SURAT, Sept 21: Every natural disaster brings with it one certain fallout: Not disease, not dole-outs, but the demand for heads to roll. And so it is in Surat, where the recent floods have created 8212; in some minds, at least 8212; the notion that the administration must pay for its lapses.

The controversy this has created threatens to divert attention from the task at hand 8212; cleaning up the city 8212; and has fuelled fear that top officials may indeed be transferred, to appease growing public fury. Interestingly, though, the public fury is aimed mainly at politicans, not the administration.

District collector R M Shah and municipal commissioner S Jagadeesan find their necks on the chopping block for proving unequal to the task involved: A cleanliness drive in a city which was 80 per cent under water. While Shah is being criticised both for failing to anticipate floods and for poor relief operations, Jagadeesan is under fire for what a tardy cleanliness operation.

Public concern in Surat is naturally high, given that four years ago it experienced severe floods and then the infamous plague. Expectations are that the mistakes committed then are not repeated.

However, the criticism of the administration 8212; played up in some sections of the media 8212; seems to be unwarranted, and lacking wide consensus. The public, for example, are targeting politicians of any hue, including RJP president Shankersinh Vaghela, Union minister and Surat MP Kashiram Rana, MLAs Narottam Patel, Dhirubhai Gajera and Gulabdas Khasi and half a dozen BJP corporators. The collector and commissioner have, in fact, managed to play placatory roles, defusing tension in several flashpoints.

Part of the reason is that Jagadeesan, unlike his predecessor S R Rao, is not media-friendly, and his brusque manner has apparently upset some of those in the media. He has been blunt when faced with criticism, saying, 8220;I am not bothered whether my work is up to your satisfaction. I am interested in cleaning the city and helping the affected8221;.