People And Their Problems

New Delhi, 3 February 2007

Changing Perception

Towards Spreading Legal Literacy

By Radhakrishna Rao

Adult literacy and formal education programme in India have undoubtedly proved to be an effective instrument to bring about a socio-economic transformation of the society. According to Avadesh Kaushal, Chairperson of Dehra Dun-based Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) the spread of literacy has brought about a remarkable change in the “outlook and perception” of the country at large.  But then the RLEK, which is active in adult literacy and formal educational sector of the hill State of Uttarakhand, has also been spearheading legal awareness programme in the State, as well as in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh.

Right from the outset, the RLEK has been striving ceaselessly towards empowering indigenous groups, marginalized communities and children and women to claim their rights and entitlements.  After years of struggle against atrocities meted out to under-privileged and marginalized communities in the region, it has fought for the right of the community and the individuals in the courts of justice. 

Several legal battles fought by the RLEK led to the formulation of legislations in accordance with the decisions and judgments of the courts.  As pointed out by Kaushal: “These acts were merely the starting point. People had to be organized and mobilized. Persistent advocacy efforts brought about a countrywide exposure to widespread violation of fundamental rights. The RLEK initiatives led the promulgation of Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976, Environmental Protection Act of 1986 and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1988”.

It was but natural that activities of the RLEK focussing mainly on securing justice to the poor and deprived sections of the society led to the creation of a full fledged legal cell to strengthen its pro-active role in empowering the entire society with legal literacy. The legal cell of the RLEK through research and training aims at inspiring confidence of the public in the administration of justice, inculcating a spirit of righteousness so that adherence to the law is ensured in totality.

Realizing the sound and solid track record of the RLEK in fighting for justice and empowering the indigenous communities, the National Legal Services Authority has entrusted it with the responsibility of setting up a national centre for legal literacy and legal training for the States of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. As part of this mandate, it regularly conducts legal literacy for the empowerment of elected women Panchayat Raj representatives, as well as the depressed sections of the society.

In addition, the RLEK’s legal cell helps create a cadre of paralegals. Women in general and those in need of the justice are the prime focus of the legal training camps organized by the RLEK in various parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh from time to time. As stated by R.N. Agarwal, Member Secretary, Uttarakhand Legal Series Authority, “the RLEK is one of the leading NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) of North India, working towards the empowerment of women and weaker sections of the society in the most unreachable areas.”

It is through such initiatives of civil society that qualitative changes at the grassroot level can be made a reality.  On the other hand, the main aim of the legal literacy campaign of the RLEK is to empower the marginalized communities to claim their rights and entitlements in order to usher in a society based on the sound principles of justice.

Pragati, the all-woman Panchayati Raj unit of the RLEK has been working relentlessly for more than a decade towards ensuring the political empowerment of the women of Uttarakhand with legal literacy as a major tool.  The mission objective of Pragati is to enhance the status of women in the social, economic and political spheres through a process which is designed to change the nature and direction of systemic forces that marginalize women and other socially deprived sections of the society.

For quite sometime now, Pragati has been spearheading a campaign designed to raise women’s consciousness of political rights guaranteed under 73^rd and 74^th Constitutional Amendments and to raise women’s knowledge and awareness of their rights and privileges with respect to social, economic and political institutions, health, nutrition, education and the law. Further Pragati is active in lobbying towards political level changes for ensuring women’s rights, including rights to inheritance, right to ownership or property and right to maintenance in the event of divorce and desertion.

More importantly, Pragati imparts pre and post-election training to women.  Another area where Pragati has excelled in providing information and training on gender and local-self governance, gender and reproductive health, development and legal literacy. Members of Gram Sabhas, elected woman representatives, local women’s groups and NGO functionaries have all benefited from the programmes of the RLEK. In particular, Pragati regularly holds workshops and open sessions to make elected women representatives legally literate and develop channels of communications linkages among various segments of the society and political set up.

Meanwhile, with the draft Bill on the Nyaya Panchayat to pave the way for setting up inexpensive, fast-track rural courts now under scanner, the RLEK is lobbying for the introduction and implementation of the Bill without further delay. The Nyaya Panchayats, which have been an integral part of the social heritage of India, is a proof positive of the thriving democracy in India’s rural backyards. Going ahead, Nyaya Panchayats are an effective answer to relieve the judiciary of its un-excessive load of backlog cases which has assumed insurmountable preposition, making access to justice to the public at large a long delayed process. 

Over the years, the legal ambit in its entirety has widened to encompass innovation in the legal process, for instance, cyber crimes, intellectual property rights violation and bio-terrorism. Also when people’s problems are neither heard nor dealt with a completely new system of dispensing rough and erroneous verdicts by using strong arms tactics to attain the desired goal has been set up by caste and communal groups in various parts of the country.

In the ultimate analysis, it is believed that in the context of the problems facing the conventional justice dispensing mechanism in the country, setting up of rural courts under the Nyaya Panchayat Act has become indispensable. It ensures participatory and people-oriented system of justice, provides greater scope for mediation, conciliation and compromise and in turn mitigate hardships of the rural people by providing justice at the village level.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

People And Their Problems

 New Delhi, 27 January 2007

Dynamic Growth

New Policy To Invigorate Exports

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

The assumption of creating 20 lakh jobs that is, direct employment each year is indeed quite difficult to achieve though the prospects of India emerging as a global hub for jewellery and auto parts and increased service exports could greatly help. The export growth has been around 20 per cent during the last few years and in the last year the target of $ 92 billion has been surpassed, reaching $ 101 billion against $ 80 billion in 2004-05, marking a 25 per cent jump. It may be mentioned here that in 2004-05 exports had surpassed the $ 75 billion target, and last year also the Commerce Minister was expecting to cross the target and reach the $ 100 billion mark.

The focus areas for boosting export revenues and job creation would obviously be in the areas of agricultural products, auto parts, pharmaceuticals and gems and jewellery. But as the Commerce Minister stated “in order to tap new opportunities arising out of the boom in the aviation sector, food beverages and other supplies including refueling of long distance flights would be treated at par with other exports, making them eligible for benefits under various export promotion schemes”. It may be mentioned here under the earlier scheme lot of incentives was given to the marine sector.

Two new schemes were announced to give additional impetus to penetration of strategic markets. The Focus Product Scheme is expected to give a thrust to manufacture and export of certain industrial products which could generate employment per unit investment compared to other products. The other scheme Focus Market Scheme would penetrate markets to which India’s exports have been comparatively lower and which Indian exporters had been neglecting due to high freight costs and underdeveloped networks but which were markets of the future. The two schemes may entail revenue outgo of about Rs 2500 crores. These two schemes would replace the Target Plus Scheme which was announced in 2004-05.

It is also significant that the earlier Vishesh Krishi Upaj Yojna will now include village and cottage industries. There has been a demand to help the somewhat ailing these industries and help market their products and the present step has been in the right direction. However, the scheme has been renamed Vishesh Krishi Upai Aur Gram Udyog Yojana and would provide incentives to products of cottage and village industries by awarding a duty-free scrip at the rate of 5 per cent of FOB value under the expanded scheme.

Meanwhile, a report developed by McKinsey and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has predicted that India can garner nearly $ 300 billion in manufacturing exports by the year 2015.

The country’s share in world manufacturing exports is expected to rise to 3.5 per cent. Around 25-30 million jobs are expected to be created in the manufacturing sector and another 60-90 million in allied activities like construction, entertainment etc., the study pointed out.

The post-MFA opportunities in textiles besides myriad, labour-intensive, low-end product segments are expected to facilitate Indian industry to look for exponential growth though China and Bangladesh, which enjoys a preferential treatment under agreements such as ABA (anything but arms) pose stiff competition. Global trade in apparel could rise to $ 300 billion from the present $ 200 billion. India could grow its share by 8 to 10 per cent to $ 25-30 billion from the present $ 6 billion, the study projected. The country’s chemical, engineering and cost-innovative skills could also make it one of the top low-cost countries. Competition, however, is expected to be tough in electricals and electronic products from countries like China, Taiwan and Malaysia who have a significant lead in the $ 1 trillion world trade.

Citing China’s example, Rajat Bhargava (who presented a report at a recent CII seminar) said clusters in the form of special economic zones with special economic systems are a key feature of that country’s success in manufacturing. In India, a lot more needs to be done before the SEZs can be considered world class, he added. However the government to boost SEZs has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment through the automatic route for manufacturing units located in the zones. Duty-free import of goods for the development, operation and maintenance of SEZs has been permitted and various tax exemptions have been extended to them. The government has also given its approval for setting up another 33 SEZs apart from the already existing 11.

There can be no denying that the barriers to expedite exports are being given due attention by the government. These are expected to stimulate domestic demand by reducing indirect taxes and import duties, de-bottlenecking ports and accelerating power reforms, encouraging the development of manufacturing sectors and hastening labour reforms and facilitating skill development. In fact, the emphasis on improving infrastructure would have a positive effect in boosting up exports in the coming years.

That there is an urgent need to shift focus from primary exports to that of value-added products has been admitted. This would enable the country to earn more through exports while also encouraging domestic industry. It may be mentioned in this connection that Indian steel firms have long been up in arms against export of high-grade iron ore to Japan and China as these were scarce material, which needed to be conserved for use by the domestic industry. Thus value-added exports which are cost effective and meet global standards have to be encouraged to gain acceptability in the international market.

There has been a trend in recent years to intensify trade with India’s neighbours and this has been showing a positive sign. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India’s trade with Asian countries is all set to leapfrog in the coming years. “Much of India’s recent export growth has been fuelled by trade with Asia, in particular China, where India has managed to more than double its market share”, the IMF Director (Asia-Pacific), David Burton said recently. Burton projected, and quite rightly, that greater trade liberalization and regional integration are key to realizing India’s potential and benefiting from greater integration into the regional economy.

It may be pertinent here to mention that the Prime Minister recently announced that the country was trying to form a pan-Asian free trade area with the help from China and Japan. “This pan-Asian FTA could be the future of Asia and will, I am certain, open up new growth avenues for our economy”, Dr. Singh pointed out. Both Burton and the ADB President, Haruhiko Kuroda, have also stressed the need for greater regional integration and strengthening of an Asian economic community (offering complimentary markets for the benefit of its members) as these steps would greatly realize India’s potential in boosting up trade.    

However, infrastructure development remains a key question. Take the case of our exports to Bangladesh. A report of the Asian Institute of Transport Development (AITD) has pointed out that modernization of the existing ill-equipped border crossings and archaic procedures could reduce the cost of Indian exports to that country by as much as 10 per cent. Container traffic from northern India still go around by sea through Mumbai and Singapore and is then carried by feeder lines to Chittagong. AITD has estimated that a container traveling overland from Ludhiana would cost around $ 650 instead of $ 1600.

India could play a crucial role in boosting up export growth in the Asian region in the coming years. Even with Pakistan a Joint Business Council has been set up to intensify trade and economic ties as agreed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries. However, infrastructure facilities, specially road routes with the neighbouring countries, have to be improved, on the one hand, and export finance made available in a hassle-free manner to the exporting countries, on the other.

According to a study titled ‘Towards an Employment-Oriented Export Strategy: Some Preliminary Explorations’ by the Research & Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), there are a number of opportunities for expanding exports as well as employment that remain unexploited. “ If we can focus on exploiting these opportunities, it will not only be possible to surpass the $ 150 billion target for exports set by the Government for 2009-10” which would also generate more jobs for India’s youth, it observed.

For the country to emerge as a serious contender or at least a major regional hub for aviation, gems and jewellery and other high potential sectors like textiles and leather, a whole panoply of infrastructural, fiscal and regulatory environment and facilities conducive for growth for large players to move in needs to be created. The possibilities that the country presents are indeed immense and if regional trade could be further strengthened export growth would be greatly enhanced by the end of the present decade.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

People And Their Problems

New Delhi, 20 January 2007

Steel Industry

Ambitious Expansion Plans Ahead

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

Steel has been in the news. This exceptionally versatile metal has developed over the years and its industrial and other usages have increased greatly. Delving into history, one finds that the first great steel industries of Britain, Germany and the United States of America were based on and located near their iron ore and coal mines. But, by the later half of the 20^th century, they had largely run out of iron ore. Similarly, the Soviet bloc countries believed steel was a foundation of socialism and built-up over-sized steel industry.

Growing competition has led to the consolidation of industries in the old industrial countries. Primary steel producers have been buying local mills to use them fir re-rolling ingots. In India, the Tatas have been quite active in this regard. In recent times, China emerged as the biggest producer making a third of the world’s steel.     

In consonance with projected 8+ per cent GDP growth rate targeted for the next decade, the country’s metal production industry, particularly steel, is expected to grow at a blistering 10 per cent annually. After Australia and China, India is destined to become a major steel manufacturer in the international scenario. The agreement signed by Pohang Steel Company (Posco), the world’s fifth largest steel maker, to set up a $ 12 billion (Rs 51,000 crores) steel plant in Orissa, is a case in point as it will turn out 12 million tonnes of steel compared to SAIL’s present production of 13 million tonnes.

After the first phase of the project is completed in 2010, the company will produce 4 million tonnes of steel and the entire project will be completed in 2016 with the production reaching 12 million tonnes. The investment deal is significant in the history of world’s steel industry as it is the first time that a steel maker is building an integrated steel plant adopting the Finex technology, which is the next generation eco-friendly iron-making process that allows the direct use of cheap iron ore fines and non-coking coal feedstock. However, the project has also generated some controversy as the Korean company has been allowed to export 30 per cent of the 600 metric tonnes high alumina-content iron ore allotted to it.

All this clearly shows that India has emerged as a major player in the world steel industry. With iron ore reserves of 13 billion tonnes – 4 per cent of global resources – India ranks fifth in the world after China, Japan, the USA, Russia and South Korea. Jharkhand, Orissa and Chattisgarh, among themselves, account for 57 per cent of the reserves in the country. However, most of this has gone untapped so far.

Apart from the abundant ore reserves, the country’s other attraction is its geographical proximity to China, which consumes one-fourth of the one billion tonnes of steel the world produces every year. Moreover, India is well equipped with technology, management and scientifically qualified manpower to meet the challenges of steel making in the coming decades. As such, global majors like Mittal Steel, Pohang Steel of South Korea and Bao Steel of China are queuing up to invest in India while domestic players are also seriously exploring the need to increase capacity.

According to experts, Indian production, currently 42 million tonnes, will touch 80-110 million tonnes by the year 2015 if the 8 to 10 per cent growth is achieved. The Ministry of Steel has however set a modest target of 100 million tonnes by 2020. Meanwhile, the merger of IISCO with SAIL should further boost up the steel major and help the integrated company could go in for further expansion and development.

Around Rs. 5000 crores will be invested in Burnpur and about Rs. 2800 crores in IISCO’s collieries and iron ore mines. Chiria mines, Asia’s largest ore reserves, will soak up a little over Rs. 2000 crores but its rich reserves could raise the capacity of Bokaro Steel plant to 10 million tonnes, according to SAIL Chairman, V. S. Jain. This could rival Mittal’s plans to set up a 10 million tonnes mill at Chaibasa in Jharkhand.

There are also plans of SAIL’s merger with Vizag Steel to create an entity that will immediately place the new Indian steel-making giant among the world’s top 10 in terms of manufactured steel. If this matures, the combined turnover of the two behemoths will be in the region of Rs 38,000 to Rs. 40,000 crores or nearly $ 10 billion with a crude steel production of 15.8 million tonnes presently which may go up substantially in the coming tears because of already finalized expansion programmes of Vizag Steel.

Meanwhile, Tata Steel is planning to set up three Greenfield facilities in Orissa, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand. These facilities would have an aggregate capacity of 23 million tonnes and that the units coupled with other strategic acquisition opportunities could see the company invest Rs. 70,000 crores in the next decade. Tata Steel has plans to attain global scale with output exceeding 30 million tonnes. 

One may mention here that over the Plan periods, steel has been accorded the pride of place in our planning strategy. The strategy has been to increase production and productivity through modernization, expansion and induction if new technology. Modernization has been more or less completed in the public sector steel plants while the private ones are also being encouraged to induct technology to compete in the international market. And the development of ultra high-powered electric-arc furnaces and reliable continuous-casting machines provide a low-cost route for the production of such structurals. In fact, there is lot of emphasis on R&D to improve quality standards and become cost competitive in the international market.

With increase in production, the demand of ore is expected to reach around 150-160 million tonnes with another ten years or so. Current production figures match that as domestic producers consume around 50-60 million tonnes. But whether exports of ore in future would be allowed is very much on the Centre’s agenda. “There is a strong case to protect the resources for the domestic industry”, an expert on mineral industry pointed out, while also maintaining that the decision to allow Pohang to export ore from India every year may not be a correct decision. “With the existing consumption, the proven reserves might last another 50 years”.

One of the demands of the steel industry has been that iron ore should be given to steel plants exclusively for captive mining. The main justification is that the iron ore reserves in the country being limited, these are needed by the growing domestic industry. The Government has been trying to formulate rules to curb the rich States’ power to dole out preferential treatment to companies, which set up plants within their territories. It is understood that the Hoda Committee would not allow such incidents to be replicated. However, it is quite clear that the three ore-rich States cannot be prevented from promoting steel plants in their own States rather than allowing parties to set up plants in other States. The Jharkhand Chief Minister recently regretted that though the State has 37 per cent of the country’s mineral resources, 54 per cent of the people are below the poverty line.

The importance of steel in the country’s growth cannot be doubted. It is thus imperative that in any strategy about the steel sector, the following needs to be seriously considered: the future demand for ore as more and more producers, both Indian and foreign, are attracted to set up units; prospects of encouraging domestic producers, specially the PSUs, to increase production for export; seeking tie-ups with foreign firms for both production and export; and formulating plans for employment generation, thereby gearing up development and alleviating poverty in the ore-rich States of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chattisgarh.

As is agreed by one and all that in this age of industrialization, steel has a crucial role to play. The demand for steel is increasing worldwide at an annual rate of 7 to 8 per cent per annum while production is likely to increase by 4-5 per cent, according to a report released by the Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Steel consumption is expected to grow especially in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union as well in OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation & Development) economies. Moreover, steel prices have at a quite time high having increased by around 250 per cent over the last two years. Experts feel that it would increase further in the coming years because of higher input costs and other factors.

India has the potential to become the second or third largest steel-producing nation in the world and optimists believe that it should be possible to achieve it in the next 15-20 years or so. The country should take advantage of its rich reserves and, instead of exporting ore, evolve plans to export the end product for higher gains. There is huge potential for India to tap the Asian and African markets for increasing exports of steel products and this has to be pursued in the coming years. However, to compete globally in a big way, there is need to be give more attention to R&D in the steel sector so that Indian products could compete favourably with those from Japan, South Korea and China.

It is expected that the National Steel Policy, which is eagerly awaited, would take into consideration the above facts while envisaging the 110-million tonnes target set for the year 2020. Investments of around Rs. 230,000 crores would be required to step up the output to the projected level though, of course, 10 lakh direct and indirect jobs will be generated. In the coming years, the international community will be keenly watching policies from India and China, two major steel markets with high growth potential.---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

People And Their Problems

New Delhi, 13 January 2007

Cauvery As A Garland!

Atheist Statue in Temple Complex

By Bobby Srinivas

When we think of a garland, we think of flowers.  Flowers in a string to be put round eager, receptive and willing necks of proud politicians! Time was when garlands were meant for temple deities.  And as a concession it was allowed for brides and bridegrooms at the marriage ceremony as var-maala, since ‘marriages are made in heaven,’ the couple are led to believe they exchange garlands in the ‘presence of the Lord.’ In recent times garlands are totally appropriated by politicians who consider themselves equal to the Lord!

In this connection it is interesting to go to the present events in a town called Srirangam in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu.  Not many in the North may have heard of Srirangam, a riparian island in the River Cauvery, off Trichy or Tiruchirapally, the new name for Trichinopoly, the name given by the British administration.  Srirangam derives its name from Lord Vishnu as Ranganathaswamy in reclining pose (Ananthasayanam) in the famous temple on the island. 

Since, the temple is on an island in the River Cauvery, the river water flows on all the sides of the temple like an aquatic garland.  For the devout this is an allegory of the Lord blessing the temple by a garland of the holy river itself.  Therefore, again for the devout, Cauvery becomes as holy as the Ganga.

The temple has an ancient history. There are also various shrouded legends about the temple.  One is that Ravana’s brother Vibhishana upon being anointed as king of Lanka conceived the idea of a temple for the Lord on the island.  The temple administration had some years ago set an example of communal harmony and national integration!  For daily worship, a Muslim Chinna Maula Saheb played the nadaswaram (a pipe instrument like shehnai) in the sanctum sanctorum. 

Maula rendered divine music with deep devotion.  Some compared Chinna Maula to the legendary shehnai player Bismillah Khan.  When a few ‘staunch’ devotees questioned a Muslim playing in the holy precincts, Hindu religious pontiffs, to whom the matter was referred, declared that vidwans like Maula are above man made religions. 

Srirangam is a small town and an important Vaishnav Kshetra, like Guruvayur in Kerala, Balaji in Andhra Pradesh, Nathdwara in Rajasthan, and Mathura in U.P. and so on.  This small town has other temples too like the Shiva temple dedicated to Sri Jambukeswara.  The sanctum in this temple has a perennial spring of water keeping the stone floor continuously damp and wet which devotees claim as divine blessing of the Lord.  Srirangam is just a temple city with no other tangible activity.  The shopkeepers and other small business cater to the devotees thronging to visit the temple or for the families permanently settled or residing in this small religious temple town.  This then is Srirangam.

Now comes the recent interesting event---a flutter in the tranquility surrounding the serene temple town.  The DMK political leadership backed by their Government in Tamil Nadu has erected a cement concrete statue of their revered leader Periyar Ramaswamy Naicker at the entrance to the Ranganathaswamy temple.  Before the formal inauguration or exposition of the statue some miscreant appears to have disfigured the statue.   And the militant cadre of the DMK has let loose mayhem of protests and agitation claiming the sanctity of their respected leader has been blemished.  It is something like the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar in Kanpur being disfigured and parts of Maharashtra set on flames.

Periyar (respected and revered elder) Ramaswamy Naicker may be said to be the father of the Dravidian movement of Tamil Nadu.  Originally, member of the pre-independence Congress, he started the group named ‘self-respecting’ party to halt what he called the ‘dominance’ of Brahmins in the political activities albeit under British colonial administration of Madras Presidency.  It was believed in those days that he had been set up or had the blessings of the British to thwart the burgeoning Congress agitation for India’s independence.  Many Brahmins were in the forefront of the freedom movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi. 

Since the British in their divide-and-rule policy could not whip up Hindu-Muslim differences in the South, they found Brahmins as easy scapegoat for Brahmin vs. non Brahmin agitations.  The ‘self-respecting’ group became the Justice Party, a precursor to Dravida Kazhagam whose ideologue and supremo was Periyar Ramaswamy. The Dravida Kazhagam and Periyar were avowed self declared atheists. Ramaswamy Naicker was no doubt a rationalist; he was also offensively a denigrator of temples and idols.  He encouraged his followers to break idols, particularly of Ganesh in public places inciting riots and mayhem.  

In course of time, as it happens to political parties in India, Dravida Kazhagam or DK split with a new party DMK – Dravida Munnetra (forward) Kazhagam being formed under C.N.Annadurai.  Annadurai, later to become the first non-Congress chief minister of Tamil Nadu, did not approve of some of the policies of Periyar and formed the new party which came to power in Tamil Nadu under his leadership in the early sixties.  The DMK further split into two fiercely opposing camps – the DMK-led by M.Karunanidhi who heads the present Tamil Nadu government; and the other his arch rival AIDMK led by the redoubtable J.Jayalalithaa, a former chief minister. 

The original DK has now become irrelevant or at least ceased to be a political force in this southern State.  But the two warring DMK and AIDMK draw their inspiration from the DK and its ideologue Periyar Ramaswamy. It is paradoxical the DMK should erect a statue of an avowed temple hater and idol breaker at the entrance of a famed ancient Vaishnav temple in Srirangam.  This appears somewhat of a vengeful act.  It is something like a BJP ruled state government wanting to erect a Ganesh or Maruti statue near a masjid or a church!  If this Dravidian party wants to honor their great leader, there are better and more congenial places where they could display their veneration, such as the beaches, public parks, and important road junctions or even in the middle of the River Cauvery away from the Srirangam temple.

Tamil Nadu is full of ancient temples of great archeological beauty and importance.  With planning and forethought these could be used as tourist destinations and money spinners instead of foisting atheist bigotry on those who wish to venerate temples and deities.  In contrast neighboring Andhra Pradesh with fewer temples but with the world famous Tirupati-Balaji takes full advantage of the temples for harvesting revenue.  Balaji competes with the Vatican, for the world’s largest collection in offerings from the Faithful. 

Someone remarked that it is by a stroke of good luck that Tirupati was included in Andhra Pradesh instead of Tamil Nadu at the time of the States reorganization.  The DMK in Tamil Nadu is not likely to have given the same sanctified importance to this shrine. This statue installation game surely disturbs a hornets’ nest.  It also demonstrates politicians’ appetite to stride into domains “where angels fear to tread!”---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)