Chandy’s mass generosity finds critics within govt and without

Chandy’s government too has come under fire,and from Congress leaders,over two other issues. The PCC president has complained to the chief minister and his colleagues about the government keeping the party in the dark about ministers’ tours in the state. And senior party leader V M Sudheeran,former MP,has questioned the appointment of IPS officer Tomin J Thachankery as managing director of Marketfed.

Chandy has completed the mass contact programme in three of 14 district headquarters. In Kozhikode ealy this month,Chandy heard 10,966 petitions on matters pending in various government offices. Most of these related to ration cards,land certificates and title deeds and pensions,and financial aid.

In Thiruvananthapuram,the programme last week saw 26,000-odd applications. Chandy spent 15 hours addressing petty issues from boundary disputes to delay in clearing bills and admission to rescue homes for the poor.

And in Kochi this weekend,Chandy found 12,000 petitions waiting for his signature. Backed up by an entourage of officials with cheque books,he wound up the programme around midnight,after he had heard the last applicant.

He distributed financial assistance ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The disabled and the ailing arrived in wheelchairs and stretchers. Destitute women who broke down before him were offered jobs.

“Of course,what Chandy did at the programme was supposed to be implemented by officials. There were issues that could have been handled at the village offices,local police stations,a social welfare office or a ration supply office,” said K S Vasudeva Sharma,political secretary to the chief minister. The CM’s intervention has,however,given all of this a status of urgency,Sharma said.

The finance department,however,has sent a note saying the distribution of financial assistance was against the regulations and that this would lead to objections from the accountant general. Only genuinely eligible applicants should be given such aid,it said.

Chandy said he would not deny help to anyone because of “silly technical reasons”. The question of financial indiscipline would be discussed by the Cabinet,he said.

Even a Kerala-cadre IAS officer,Dr B Ashok,has taken a swipe at the drive. In an article in a Malayalam daily,he wrote,“These officials do not address even the simple issues of the people. That is why a crowd jostles in the chief minister’s office with issues ranging from toilets to an airport. This will create a situation in which only the papers reaching the chief minister become decisions.”

From the Opposition,CPM central committee member T M Thomas Issac,former finance minister,has called the programme a publicity gimmick. “It gives an impression that the bureaucracy would move only at the intervention of the chief minister… Expecting decisions to be taken at the level of the chief minister,officials at the lower levels would sit on files. People would see even routine government matters as a personal favour from the chief minister,” he said.

More friction

Visiting ministers: PCC chief Ramesh Chennithala has written to Chandy and other ministers,saying the governmment has been ignoring the party. Ministers visiting various areas have not been informing local functionaries,the letter said. They ought to visit party offices and pay attention to petitions forwarded by party leaders,it said.

the appointment: Thachankery faces an NIA probe for allegedly meeting terror accused in the Gulf. He had been suspended by the previous government for an allegedly illegal visit to the Gulf and has also been facing corruption charges. The suspension was revoked in July.

“Thachankery should not have been given a new assignment merely on the technical ground that he could not be left to idle in the bureaucracy,” Sudheeran said. “A person with a tainted track record should have been kept out of service. His appointment has gone against the understanding reached at the co-ordination committee of the government and the party. It would have a bearing on the crucial bypoll to Piravom.”