Stray Dogs: Are we barking up the wrong tree?

I remember in my childhood in Thiruvananthapuram where I used to be chased by stray dogs when I went cycling near my house. Then you have no way out but pedal as fast as possible so that it won’t catch up with you. There is a famous joke which appeared in Reader’s Digest at that time. Someone sees a neighbor rushing and he says he has to catch the 4.30 Mail.  “If you see my bulldog you will catch the 4.15 express.”

How much adrenalin is pumped during such times when we face a ‘fight or flight’ situation?  Now the newspapers, television and social media is full of news about stray dogs and how it is becoming a menace to society.

(Photo Courtesy: www.kochousephchittilapilly.com)

These are the people fighting the issue out in the streets:
1) Maneka Gandhi , a union minister (for women and child development and nothing to do with animals!), animal lovers and ofcourse,Ranjini Haridas, a leading TV personality.

2) Kochouseph Chittilapilly, successful industrialist and philanthropist who believes a man’s life is more precious than the canine’s.

Most of the majority including the government seems to be onlookers in this fight.

There is some truth in what Kochouseph Chittilapilly’s argument that a powerful lobby led by pharma companies producing anti-rabies vaccine may be in the forefront supporting the animal rights group. Recently, our pet dog Zoe (Dasch) while playing bit my daughter Diyah’s fingers. We had taken Rabipur injection of one year validity for the pet and our Vet assured that there is nothing to worry. But since there was a wound we took her to the nearest private hospital and there the doc suggested we take five doses of Rabipur and also Human immuno globin which costs Rs 7000 or more. He said vaccines are not stored properly and there is a chance that my pet dog may have rabies.

Imagine if it were a stray dog that bit my daughter, how much will these hospitals extract from you capitalizing on our fear?

But Maneka Gandhi and people like Ranjini Haridas whether they are funded by any lobby or not are out of sync with reality. There are people who have been bitten once by a stray dog and perpetually in fear of the canines.  How gruesome it is to be bitten by a dog? How many of these animal lovers have suffered it?

The Solution

Some suggest sterilization of stray dogs, but that doesn’t address the issue of rabies. Some others advice killing them mercilessly whether infected or not.

The solution lies in setting up more animal shelters, killing only those badly infected and letting people adopt them after proper medical examination and certification. Not all people like the canines but if one in hundred homes adopted one dog, most of the bad news you hear on the streets would be a thing of the past. I need not emphasize all the good things that come with keeping pets more over dogs are good security guards keeping watch over you 24/7 365 days of the year.

(I welcome comments and opinions on this issue and will be glad to share in my blog-write to sreekumsree@gmail.com)

Handicap no hindrance for amazing feats

Anish Mohan based in the South Indian state of Kerala had high hopes when he attended an interview at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after completing a diploma in instrumentation with top honors. However, fate had something else in store for him. On his way back home from the interview, he was run over by train losing his right hand and left leg.

Most people going through such setbacks lose all hope in life and become totally disappointed. Nothing could stop the dogged determination and will power of the 26 year old Anish who with the help of an artificial leg and hand managed to undertake the difficult Sabarimala Pilgirmage walking several kilometres and climbing 18 steps apart from driving a car on his own. He is now engaged in several activities for handicapped people or differently abled. He has urged the State Government to have separate parking lots space for differently abled people in public places.

Alexis Leon is now a familiar name for computer engineering students as most of them may have read atleast one of his best -selling books. After a brilliant academic career, Alexis got a good break in India’s premier IT company Tata Consultancy Services where he was blossoming as an ace software programmer when he was involved with a major road accident that crippled him for life. He was on his way to meet his fiancé and mother who had come Chennai for shopping for the wedding which was hardly a few weeks away. He was confined to the wheel chair for life but doctors helped him move his hands all the while this accident couldn’t dent his indomitable spirit. Now living with his brother, Alexis Leon continues to write amazing books which are a delight to read for IT students and enthusiasts. According to Alexis Leon, if he hadn’t become a paraplegic such good books may not have seen the light of the day.

We have any number of examples of people who have fought courageously a handicap which could have crippled their ambition and hopes but decided to fight courageously with a never-say- die attitude.
Sudha Chandran, a dancer who lost her leg in a car accident continued to dance using the Jaipur foot (artificial leg) became a household name with the release of the film Mayuri featuring her in the lead role as the dancer. In the film, Mayuri’s lover leaves her on seeing her handicapped after an accident but thereafter returns once she becomes famous. But Mayuri rejects her lover keeping her self respect intact. The film produced by the legendary South Indian film maker Ramoji Rao went on to become a success at the box office and remade in to several other languages.

In my childhood I was inspired by a former military employee who lost a leg while on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala. Using crutches he learned to walk with one feet and also climb on a bicycle and ride fast. It was a delight to see Appu Pillai cruise along with other cyclists on busy roads  and on steep roads he took the help of autorickshaw drivers who allowed him to hold the side bar of the rickshaw to enable him to overcome the steep road easier. He also started his own small shop selling sweets, juices, biscuits and fruits.

Lessons to live by
When an unfortunate incident makes you differently disabled,  not many people are able to overcome the adversities and get ahead  in life. Most often they had decided not to remain idle so that they are not dependent on somebody else either physically or financially or as Alexis Leon said if he had confined himself to bed for life, his parents and brothers who loved him dearly would have become crippled at heart.

Secondly, technology has made amazing strides to make life easier for differentl y disabled. But it takes determination, enthusiasm and courage to make use of these innovations as they may not be easy to use in the beginning. In the case of artificial Jaipur foot, it requires months of practice and also the user needs to undergo lot of pain before it can be adjusted for their requirements.

The handicapped people themselves have been in the forefront of making policy changes to help these public user public services such as buses and trains. Now many public transport buses have special seats reserved for such people and has lowered the height of floors. In many public places and commercial establishments, convenient parking space is reserved for different disabled. Most often the same people who required it had to lobby for it to get the facility mandated by government.

In many countries, government establishments have special quotas for these talented people to jobs according to their skill and talent.  If you look around, you can see healthy people giving lame excuses for not doing a job properly or blaming the government or  others for not able to become an achiever. It is most often our mindset that determines our future not our disability.

There is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna in Mahabharatha on how to get ahead in tough times- ‘always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing’.  According to Stephen Covey, only 10% of what happens is in our life is beyond our control – for eg. a bad behavior from someone, an accident, a setback in career or life, but the rest 90% is in our hands, how we respond or manage that determines things to come.

Fighting on the streets, TV & social media: Journos & Lawyers setting a bad precedent

For the past two weeks, the fight between lawyers and journos in Kerala High Court and District Court in Thiruvananthapuram is being discussed and analysed widely in social media, newspapers, TV and in public forums. I don’t have all the facts related to the incident but from what ever has appeared, I think much of the opinions expressed have been one-sided, negative and not useful to create an atmosphere of trust and goodwill between the warring factions.
If this trend continues the situation would be like the India-Pakistan dispute which never ends because some people never want it to happen.

Even leading newspapers such as the Malayala Manorama reported that the fights erupted with media men because of the reporting of the arrest of a government pleader for allegedly trying to molest a woman on the street.  Later discussions in TV have revealed that there has been simmering discontent among lawyers and journos that boiled over after the arrest of the government pleader. Media men have said that lawyers are not pleased when coverage of a case or about lawyers is not favorable to them.  Politicians, policemen and businessmen all have grudges against media when they are not happy with a report concerning them but it can’t be helped.

Some recent incidents that may have disrupted the good relations between media-men and legal fraternity :

1) Media reporting of government pleader’s arrest and its live coverage shown in TV. The Deccan Chronicle news about differences of opinion in High Court Advocates Association over how to handle the government pleader’s case which turned out to be false and subsequently apologies tended by the paper.

2) Media reporting over the controversy of a legal advisor position given by the government to a senior advocate Mr Damodaran.

3) Media men getting access to details of a case and publishing judgment before lawyers get to know it.

4) Abuse of three senior women journalists at the Media Room including Preethy of Mathrubhumi.

5) Senior Advocate Ramkumar stating in Mathrubhumi News Super Prime Time that it was three women journalists who started the issue leading to fight between media and lawyers in High Court.

Soon after the open fight between journos and lawyers in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, Facebook was filled with posts that used the most derogatory language with both sides abusing each other blissfully forgetting that they are part of Judiciary that represents the third estate and press that is the fourth estate. Several people were eager to share the videos and photos that appeared in the press and social media – having a sadistic joy in discussing and spreading it.

Among the various opinion and analyses that came up after the incidents—Adv Jayashankar, Sebastian Paul, Adv Sivan Madathil, Adv Kaleeswaram Raj, Adv CP Udayabhanu, and Babu Bhaskar, veteran commentator- columnist (Read his column in Edit Page of Malayala Manorama dated June 25, 2016) stood out but not to forget the lone female voice from the legal fraternity- Adv  Sangeetha Lakshmana who took exception to the boycott call by High Court Advocates Association boldly stating that she would appear for her clients when the name is called.

The relevance of Third and Fourth Estate
The Indian Constitution has provided the framework of judiciary to examine disputes related to laws passed in Parliament and legislatures, and to try civil, criminal, and governmental cases. Freedom of the press is derived from Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constituition which gives the freedom of speech to citizens of India. The executive consisting of council of ministers and officials runs the government administration and are accountable to legislature and Parliament.

All new laws and constitutional amendments are passed by Parliament which is then sent for approval of the President and in State assemblies to the Governor.  Then we have the Police which is responsible for maintaining law and order again subject to rules and laws of the land. All the four estates have a meaningful role to play and what they do have an important bearing on the common man. Therefore, it goes without saying that our elected  legislators (members of parliament, assemblies and local panchayats, municipalities), ministers and officials, judiciary (judges and lawyers, supporting officials) and media (tv,radio, online, newspapers and magazines) should maintain the highest professional ethics and decorum in their day- to- day activities and when disputes arise between the estates.

Relevance of Media Relations Committee
The Supreme Court Chief Justice and Acting Chief Justice of Kerala High Court were quick in appealing to the warring factions to calm down and seek a solution through dialogue. Kerala Chief Minister also used his good offices to set up a Media Relations Committee in High Court having representation from legal and media fraternity although Babu Bhaskar pointed out that fewer members are there from the media. If you look at the Press Council- it’s mostly headed by people from the legal fraternity and not seasoned journalists.

The setting up of media relations committees is a welcome step and in future if all disputes between media, police and lawyers were first referred to it and settled there a war-like situation can be averted. Many media men doubted the utility of a committee as Police Media relations committee is dysfunctional for a long time.  It’s true that journos work under daily deadline pressure and some of them also face constant threats from politicians, government officials, businessmen, police, legal fraternity for exposing some misdoing. At the same time, it is the responsibility of newspaper managements to ensure that journos doing court reporting are of of high caliber who are capable of understanding and analyse the court rulings and procedures. The alleged violation of laws in reporting the arrest of government pleader could have been avoided if norms were adhered to by the Police and media men.

There should be a high level discussion between Chief Editors of newspapers , TV channels, Online portals with judges and lawyers , police representatives on the ethics to be followed in Court reporting and the code of conduct to be followed by all the stakeholders in the four estates or pillars of democracy.  Each pillar cannot do without the other and therefore why this unnecessary fighting. Let each member of these estates make use of the privilege to serve society rather than misuse it and cause trouble to common man which in turn lowers their esteem and public image.


Tailpiece:
Justice Abraham Mathew of Kerala High Court observed that the new laws  (probably passed by legislatures and Parliament) in vogue create the impression of a blind men seeing an elephant. It is because of ignorance of existing laws related to the new law that is creating problems, he said. (So now we know the need for strengthening all our pillars of democracy) if the citizens are to gain anything from them!

Vista: When talent meets opportunity at Rajagiri School

School children have a heavy load of books, assignments, assessments to go through from day one of every academic year- no matter whether it's dark clouds, rain, lightning or thunderstorm. No doubt their career fortunes are impacted by the number of A+, A’s in their report cards.

Globalisation has brought a new challenge to our school and college education. New job opportunities are now more in private sector than in government and more people may need to start new ventures rather than seek jobs as technically qualified and skilled people.



Children who finish school need to have multiple skills (sports, games, art, culture) apart from good academics to emerge successful in their career. Traditional school festivals that only assess singing, dancing or music skills may not suffice in such a scenario.

It is against this backdrop, that some institutions have come up with novel cultural festivals that bring out the best talent in children to fore front  and give them the much needed confidence regarding their capabilities. One such cultural event is Vista organized by Rajagiri Public School, Kalamassery.  Individual talent does matter but more importantly team building, leadership, sports man spirit will decide the true winners.Here's a peep at what is going to happen at Vista 2016:

Dance, Drama, music….puzzles, quizzes and more…

-How about enacting a character from Vaikam Mohammed Basheer’s literary works or a sing a folk song with harvest, festivals and Kerala tradition as the theme and test your knowledge of the state’s rich art, culture and films through MUTHUCHIPPI. These are not for the big boys though. Only Classses I & II are welcome.

-For slightly older students (Class III-V)- WORDSMITH gives the opportunity to test their competency in words, spellings, anagrams…authors, and if you are kid is fond of grammar rules, this is for you.

-Get the fear of mathematics out from your kids with PROBLEME DE MATHEMATICA- it’s filled with puzzles, riddles, quizzes and you need not be a tiny Ramanujam to take part in this though. Again only for Classes III to V).

-Heard of decathlon, marathon, biathlon … . if cycling, running and swmming is your forte, TRIATHLON would be ideal . All that you need bring is shorts, tees, canvas shoe, swimming and plenty of energy and enthusiasm. The bicycles are parked here.

- Chefs and needle masters have the FRILLS and THRILLS to prepare a tasty falooda with the ingredients provided and give that extra punch with the surprise ingredient provided.

- ALCHE MYSTERY- if reading the biographies of scientists are your passion, this game is for you.  And a good working model for making our surroundings greener would clinch you the prize.

For the big boys/girls:Classes IX to XII

-Do you mean business? Do millionaires, billioinaires excite and motivate you. You must be adept at marketing as well. What is your Profit Quotient is for the budding entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow.
-Then for the artistic there are the street play –Theruvarangu and  La Symphonie D’Emotion for the rhythm, melody and harmony conscious.
-Save the Earth---that’s the only one we have. Use hip hop, contemporary dance to depict the challenges facing our planet in Bhumikkoru Kuda.

When and Where
With hardly a two weeks to go, kids should gear up fast-call 0484-2911202, 2911230 or www.rajagiri.ac.in for registration. Venue: Rajagiri Public School-Kalamassery. Organised by Rajagiri Public School, Parent Teacher Association.
 

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How to fight Obesity among kids?

If you randomly look at the kids coming out of school buses in any city, you are likely to find more oversized girls and boys in skirts and shorts than normal ones. Dr Abraham Paul, a renowned paediatrician in Kochi warns that rising obesity poses huge health risks later on in life including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other life style diseases. In a recent interaction titled 'Know Your Child' with parents of Rajagiri Public School, he underscored the need to be vigilant against health hazards, learning disorders and inability to adjust with daily challenges that growing kids may face in the modern era.

I remember in my childhood days after a hard days study at school, we would come home, have some thing to eat and then straight away go to play—it could be badminton, cricket, kho-kho, or a game called ‘seventies’ or just run around catching each other. All the fancy fried foods now available in bakeries and super markets were unheard of those days. Obesity at that time may have been confined to less than five percent of the kids and that too because of genetic or hereditary factors than lack of physical activity.

Dr Abraham K Paul said that colas, samosas, burgers, fried foods, biscuits are all high calorie stuff that require heavy physical exercise to burn it out. For example, a samosa may require one hour cycling to burn the energy generated while 3 biscuits at a time would require one hour of swimming to neutralize it.

Good food habits: Start Early
Dr Abraham Paul warns that undesirable food habits are learned from early childhood when parents try to force feed a child who refuses to eat. He advises parents to introduce vegetables, fruits and cereals at the age of nine months to one year. A child may not agree to eating fruits or vegetables at higher ages say, five, seven or ten if he or she hasn’t introduced to such food by the age of one. Parents have a tendency to force feed a child who refuses to eat there by creating stress. Slowly, the child learns to eat whenever it is stressed, thereby causing fat build up in the body.

In infant years, parents have a tendency to grind five or six food items into a paste and then push it in their throat. This will only lead to the child not getting a sense of taste for food and ability to chew food properly.

The rapid decline of play area, more emphasis on class room learning, more time in front of television while munching fried snacks all add to the unnecessary fat build up in kids, according to Dr Abraham Paul.  He suggests schools should provide four hours of physical activity every week and they should maintain a height, weight chart and look for obesity signals in children to initiate remedial action.

In many play schools and kindergarten, milk and biscuits are provided as snacks during first break in the morning and in the afternoon. This becomes habit forming and lead to fondness for refined food which are unhealthy because of preservatives, oil content and fat.

My daughter Diyah had the habit of asking for biscuits every day and now I told her about Dr Abraham Paul’s advice and atleast for a day she didn’t ask for new biscuits. We are not sure when she goes to another house, she may be offered biscuits and might eat.

The Solution
In the absence of play area and physical activity, kids can be prevented from becoming obese by avoiding calorie rich junk food and reduce TV watching. They could also be provided opportunities in indoor play, learning music, encouraging reading and so on.

Let’s not make  promising citizens of tomorrow end up popping pills, using insulin or going for early cardiac surgeries. Time to act is NOW.
(Please mail your suggestions/comments to sreekumsree@gmail.com or post it here itself)

What matters more for us – Indian identity or religious identity?

India by its Constitution is a secular, democratic republic. What is meant by that? Every person has a right to believe and worship his religion. Over a period of time, if we really went by the ideals of our Constitution we would have gone a step further and truly appreciated the good in other religions.
Lighting a lamp is considered sacred in Hinduism and in Christian functions you find candles are lit.

Islam doesn’t sanctify the lighting of the lamp and therefore some leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) refused to light the traditional lamp during a government function in recent years- it included P K Kunhalikutty and E Ahmed, both ministers at State and Centre respectively at one point of time.  But recently at a function in Rajagiri School, Kochi, APM Mohammmed Hanish, an IAS officer and Secretary, Education lighted the lamp, so did V K Ibrahim Kunju, former Minister and MLA who attended the function.

A Lamp is considered to awaken our consciousness and shed the darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge.In many houses, lighting the lamp in the morning and evening is a ritual and is considered to bring positive energy.

And now Shailaja Teacher, a CPM leader and Health Minster belonging to LDF government in Kerala has taken exception to the recital of a Hindu prayer during the state level celebration of International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the State Capital in Thiruvananthapuram. In Chandigarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Yoga as not a religious tradition but a scientifically proven method to attain health and wellness.

I hope most Communists are atheists- so is Shailaja Teacher. She may have differences of opinion on the issue of reciting a prayer in the beginning of a Yoga programme but she shouldn’t have expressed it at the venue. It could be construed as disrespect to millions of believers in Hinduism in the same way she was arguing it could have hurt the sentiments of non-believers or followers of other religions who may have their own methods to attain concentration of the mind before a yoga session. Photos of her not being involved in the meditative session and looking angry was splashed in the newspapers and television. Sitting by her side was V S Sivakumar, MLA and a former minister in the State. If every citizen of India is keen on seeing Yoga as a scientific way of attaining health and wellness, will this public outburst by a Minister and leader help in any way?

Shailaja Teacher has pointed out that as per the Indian Constitution there are believers and non-believers.  But my reading of Article 25 reveals that Constitution is silent on non-believers or atheists. It doesn’t mention any such term. It only says Citizens and even aliens in India are free to profess, propagate their religious faith and State does not have any religion of its own. My interpretation is that the Constitution is silent on non-believers. It is only bothered about people who are keen to believe and profess a religion about which it is quite neutral but enough safeguards have been put so that there is no governmental promotion or funding of any religion and state the right to impose restrictions if their activity impinges on public order, morality,health, social welfare and reform …

What is more important nationality or religious identity?
I am coming back to the question raised in the beginning of this piece- are we truly secular? Are we Indians first or religion matters more.  A boy or girl of different caste or religion falls in love but when they decide to marry- obstacles start coming in front of them- either of them will have to convert to other religion if the marriage is to happen. 

Religion was no obstacle for them to fall in love, how come they become vital for married life? You are constantly reminded of your religion and caste as every government application form or a registration form to an educational institution carries question on religion and caste. I know a girl who applied to Christ University and stated her religion and love and truth. She was given admission and completed her course.

You go to a restaurant and order food—who are the people who work behind the scenes to make it- to what caste and religion they belong and even the waiter- do you ask his religion before you eat the food served?

Our framers of the Constitution allowed religious freedom with a good purpose- let the citizens find their own ways to be spiritually uplifted but possibly never wanted people to be identified with it even as it gave the freedom to publicly air their beliefs and practices.

With religion being a powerful force across the world, how did a minority non-believers or atheists come about? Is it because Karl Marx and his lineage believed that religion is the opium of the masses and was critical of it? Or is it because scientific reasoning and temper helped temper blind belief in religious practices? How come the large number of scientists adore the Indian scriptures and see the wisdom and see the omnipotent, ominiscient force that is invisible to us?

Understanding the role of Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, Fourth Estate

Most people agree that democracy is one of the best forms of governance compared to monarchy, dictatorship or military rule. India has more or less followed the British Parliament but has a written constitution unlike Britain.

The other day I was listening to an interview with G Sudhakaran, Minister for Public Works and Registration in Kerala State with senior journalist Hari S Kartha of Amritha TV. He pointed out the paramount importance of Constitution. Every law, every ruling and government order has ultimately pass this important test- whether it is constitutional or unconstitutional.

Recenly the Inspector General of Registration in Kerala issued an order stating that citizens are free to write documents pertaining to registration of will, sale deed, agreements and need not utilize the services of document writers. As in any other state there may be more about a lakh or more people dependent on this job for a living. They protested and the concerned Minister G Sudhakaran said it was not a ministerial ruling but within the power of IG to release such an order. It may be recalled that citizens are free to argue their case in court and not seek the help of advocates.

The power of Minister/Officials- The Executive
Many people think the minister in the state and central level has tremendous power and authority. They have all facilities. They rush about in state cars, are invited for functions, do foreign trips, are respected because they have some constitutional authority vested in them. However, if you look closely, the ministers still have some limitations. They can take policy decisions in consultation with cabinet and can make some key political appointments to top posts.  But government has its own rules and procedures that are laid down from time to time and are based on our constitution. These are implemented by various levels of officials (IAS, Gazetted and non-gazetted officials).

My mother has a building in Trivandrum where the first floor was not initially having separate door number. When assessment was made for separate door number, the new building tax was set at a higher rate. However, since my mother didn’t file an appeal within fifteen days, corporation officials refused to accept the appeal. But later on it was informed that any pending issues with any department can be redressed through Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell in the Secretariat.

My mother filed an appeal before CM and it was forwarded to the Local Administration Department and subsequently to Trivandrum Corporation. However, the Corporation officials said the appeal was not filed within 15 days and government has to condone the delay. A reply given by my mother to this government clarification was not acceptable. Thereafter, I met the officials of Local Administration Department (LAD) after six months when nothing was working out. They said the entire paper work was a waste of time and my mother needed to write a request to LAD Secretary to condone for the delay and make reassessment of tax. The LAD Secretary said people have a feeling that if they write to the Chief Minister or concerned minister, every issue can be solved. But there are some rules and procedures, executive authority lies with the concerned secretaries or officials. Once the application for condonement was moved things began to work swiftly. He himself admitted that many procedures and systems in government had no logic or was beyond common sense.

In some cases a gentle push from the concerned minister or private secretary can help matters but mostly it’s not the case.

The Ministers have the right to formulate policies. For eg. the decision to close down liquor bars in Kerala and restrict it to five start hotels was a policy decision.  So was the decision to close down arrack distillation and sales. Whether more money should be allocated to government schools, hospitals and public utilities are done by the Finance Ministry but they are based on requests that come from various departments or ministries. There are also checks and balances here. The Finance Minister has to get the budget approved by the legislature or parliament – which basically contains a large number of proposals for new projects or existing projects.

The Legislature
it is the supreme law making body in the state and large number of new bills may come before it every session and they are discussed, analysed and put to vote. The elected representatives bring a variety of issues facing their particular constituency before the government for redressal and the minister is briefed by the concerned departments and a reply is given. Amendments to existing rules and acts, allegations of corruption, red tapism,nepotism in departments are also brought to the notice of the legislature by the legislators. The Governor’s Address (although he is only a titular head) to legislature spells out what the government intends to do in various areas concerned the citizens and also its key policy views. When a government says its policy is against conversion of agriculture land for commercial purposes any deviation in this regard may be questioned by the Opposition. The Right to Information Act, Anti –Defection Bill for legislators were all brought to bring more transparency and responsibility  for officials.

The Judiciary
The judiciary has a vital role of examining whether a particular act passed by legislature or parliament is as per statutes laid down in the Constitution. That again brings to the fore the supremacy of our Constitution.  Nothing on this land can violate it.  The judges also examine each case and issue based on whether a particular rule applies to it and whether it is constitutional or not. In recent times, judicial activism has come to the forefront and sometimes they seem to trespass into legislature and executive functions. However, it could also be because judiciary has to intervene when legislature and executive don’t rise upto the requirements of the public in certain issues.

The National Green Tribunal established as per the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 of Parliament has the power to issue directives that are related to water, air pollution, biodiversity, environment protection and so on. Recently it issued a directive that in Kerala diesel vehicles above 2000 cc engine capacity and more than 10 years old should not ply on the roads in select cities. The State Government has gone on appeal as several of its buses are much older and also Motor Vehicles Department had collected road tax for 15 years which means there will be huge fund requirement for refund of tax. This issue came up because all these years we promoted diesel vehicles subsidizing diesel fuel . This killed the petrol vehicles industry and also there was no incentive to move to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or LPG. The resulting pollution has forced the NGT to issue directives to limit the use of diesel vehicles.

The Fourth Estate –Press
In a democracy, free and impartial press has a big role to play in basically providing information to public. Their power comes from Article 19 (1) of Constitution with respect to Freedom of Speech and right to information but there are enough safeguards to protect an individual or institution from defamation, libel,slander etc.  Accredited journalists are provided freedom of movement and entry in key institutions to enable easier access to officials and information.

Democracy-Theory and Practice

Ideally, democracy should work fine because there is a well-defined constitution, institutions and procedures. Then there is the press to function as the watchdog and judiciary to examine cases related to constitution, crime, civil issues. But it also requires men and women of impeccable character, education, vision and outlook to hold top positions of ministers, secretaries, directors. The other day, Anup Kurivilla John, IPS, Superintendent of Police (SP), National Investigation Agency  pointed out that public service to which he belongs is indeed a noble profession to pursue. That explains why having an LLB degree from National Law School, Banaglore and thereafter an LLM from Harvard University,

Recently we saw young IAS officers in Kerala taking up cudgels against established business houses. Many people came to know of the power of Chief Election Commissioner only after T N Seshan donned the mantle so was the case with Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) when Vinod Rai was at the helm.

There are some who feel  C Achutha Menon was the best Chief Minister that Kerala ever had but some others also point to the vision and leadership qualities of K Karunakaran which was unparalled. The nation was also fortunate to have A P J Abdul Kalam as its President.

It is an ideal mixture of law abiding citizens, right policy decisions by government, timely framing of rules by legislature/parliament, judiciary that is not hampered by lack of judges and infrastructure in view of large number of pending cases, the media that performs the informative and watchdog role and above all faster adoption of e-governance that will make democracy worthier.///ENDS