Some Hard Truths

The news today is that there is still some uncertainty about the Smart City. The CM affirms that there is no truth in the rumours: the spokesmen of DIC are non-committal. The audacity of the Kerala Government to ask for the Chairman's post(to be gifted to some local CITU leader) seems to have come in the way. Let us wait and see.
The Education Minister has said that those who come into the field of education should uphold certain values. Something that is not essential in politicians. But, it is a great thing that he knows of the existance of certain desirable values , somewhere. All the teachers organizations, especially leftist, who are mainly responsible for converting the teacher's profession into a business rather than a commitment should listen to Baby's words.
Finally, the Sports lottery is over. Targetting 200 Crores, it earned only less than 30 crores.
(This at least proves that the people of Kerala are not as foolish as the FM who believed that Kerala's Financial woes could be overcome by making a 2000 crore business of Lottery annually.) Of this, 2 Crores will be set apart for the benefit of Sports , whereas 3 crores were spent on advertisement alone. Nice way of doing things - collecting 30 crores from the ordinary people and spending 28 crores to 'amass' 2 Crores for Sports!

Controlling prices

The Chief Minister announced yesterday that prices of essential commodities and food items in hotels will be reduced by 5%. This happens when the papers report that the prices have gone up by 50 to more than 100 per cent. In the same cabinet, it was also decided that the price of Milma milk will be increased by one rupee!
But the traders and hoteliers maintain that they are unaware of such a decision (to reduce prices) taken by the ministry in the presence of their representatives. So, in effect, the announcement of the CM appears to be just an eye-wash!
How long can a 'popular' government sustain itself through such gimmicks?

Minister visiting temple

The most important discussion of the day is whether a Marxist Minister visited a temple or not. All the other real issues of Kerala go to the background. As if this is the most crucial issue to be solved. The Crime Branch has been entursted with conducting an enqiry and proving that Kodiyeri had never ever gone near any temple and all the people who allege him of having done so are lying. Surely, the CB will achieve this, let us hope.
The Medical College in Trivandrum is newly equipped with a lie-detector and a brain-mapping system.Mr. Kodiyeri threw open the service yesterday. Presumably, he did not inaugurate the lie-detector by testing himself. Otherwise, perhaps, the machine would have exploded the moment he touched it!
The Government is likely to envisage a ban on ministers and political leaders being tested in the new lab.
For more details, visit DailyIndia.com dated 06.02.07

Crisis in Public Health

According to Dr. C. R. Soman, former Professor at Trivandrum Medical College, Kerala is heading towards a crisis in Public Heath. The reasons he cites are:

1. Achievements in the fields of mortality and fertility have reached a plateau
2. Immunization coverage has dropped in most districts
3. Frequent outbreaks of epidemics (insect-borne) are on the increase.
4. Natural ecology has been tampered with. The backwaters and canals are full of weeds and infested with disease germs.
5. Waste disposal is not being done properly.
6. Health Service departments are severely understaffed.
7. Distribution of drugs is totally insufficient.
8. The State Medical colleges are poor in bright young academics.
9. The State has the highest burden of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and over-nutrition.
10. Every year, 45-50 thousand people die of heart attack and nearly 20 thousand die of stroke, whereas the toll of HIV/AIDS is only 200. But the Govt. lays more stress on the latter than the former.
11. Lack of Govt. facilities allows Private institutions to fleece the patients.
12. Students who undergo Graduate and PG courses in private medical colleges try to realize the huge amounts spent on their education through hyper-testing and exorbitant fees.
13. Medical care in the State has become dehumanized and privatized. Commodifying health-care will demolish all that the State has achieved in the past 20 years.

    Source: Culcutta.News.net

    4^th Feb 2007 (IANS)

Recent news

Some recent news items:

1. The IIT will not be a reality in the next Central Budget.

2. No more schools or courses will be sanctioned, no more posts will be allowed to be created.

3. The 1600 Toddy shops, closed down during Antony regime, will be opened.

4. The mandatory distance from liquor shops to educational institutions and places of worship will be reduced from 400 to 200 metres.

5. More liquor shops will be opened.

6. The Universities in Kerala will be made starecrows with the advent of the Higher Education Council consisting of representation from all fields other than education.

Great times in the offing, isn't it?

Keralavarthamanam

Kerala is unique in many respects. It is known as ‘God’s Own Country’ because of the abundant blessings of Mother Nature. It has an evergreen surface, has plenty of rivers and a great number of tourist spots. The people there have the highest literacy rate in India, are well educated, are very pleasant in their dealings with others, are hard-working at least outside Kerala and can boast of a high culture and tradition.

Yet, there are some misgivings about the progress of Kerala as a State. Disconcerting news comes up every now and then about the efforts to achieve progress and the impediments that they have to face.

This blog attempts to depict such news, Good and Bad, on an everyday basis. Readers are free to analyze the details, and if required, suggest remedies for the ills. Thus we can turn this into a discussion forum wherein all those who are interested in the well-being of Kerala participate with the best of intentions